William Wilberforce and Joy

From John Piper’s short biography of William Wilberforce:

[The true Christian] walk in the ways of Religion, not by constraint, but willingly; they are to him not only safe, but comfortable, “ways of pleasantness as well as of peace” [Prov. 3:17]…With earnest prayers, therefore, for the Divine Help, with jealous circumspection and resolute selfdenial, he guards against, and abstains from, whatever might be likely again to darken his enlightened judgment, or to vitiate his reformed taste; thus making it his unwearied endeavor to grow in the knowledge and love of heavenly things, and to obtain a warmer admiration, and a more cordial relish of their excellence…”

I am embarrassed to admit that much of my knowledge of Wilberforce came from the “Amazing Grace” movie recently found on DVD. Piper has done a wonderful job of looking into what made William tick and found that it was undeniably Christ and a life lived joyously in Him. You can probably read through this book in a few hours so I would recommend this if you are interested in getting a quick summary of his life and his passions.