Basic HTML Version
Waves of Blessing, August 20
Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour,
wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but
to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.
Matthew 5:13
.
These words were spoken to a few poor, humble fishermen. Priests
and rabbis were in that congregation of hearers, but these were not the
ones addressed.... By these words of Christ we gain some idea of what
constitutes the value of human influence. It is to work with the influence
of Christ, to lift where Christ lifts, to impart correct principles, and stay
the progress of the world’s corruption. It is to diffuse the grace which
Christ alone can impart. It is to uplift, to sweeten, the lives and characters
of others by the power of a pure example united with earnest faith and
love. God’s people are to exercise a reforming, preserving power in the
world. They are to counterwork the destroying, corrupting influence of
evil.
As you go through life, you will meet with those whose lot is far from
easy. Toil and deprivation, with no hope for better things in the future,
make their burden very heavy.... Careworn and oppressed, they know not
where to turn for relief. Put your whole heart into the work of helping
them. It is not God’s purpose that His children shall shut themselves up
to themselves. Remember that for them, as well as for you, Christ died.
Hold out to them a helping hand.... Make it a rule never to utter one word
of doubt or discouragement. You can do much to brighten the lives of
others ... by words of holy cheer.
The humblest and poorest of the disciples of Jesus can be a blessing
to others. They may not realize that they are doing any special good, but
by their unconscious influence they may start waves of blessings that will
widen and deepen, and the blessed results they may never know till the day
of final reward. They are not required to weary themselves with anxiety
about success. They have only to go forward quietly, doing faithfully the
work God’s providence assigns, and their life will not be in vain. Their
own souls will be growing more and more into the likeness of Christ;
they are workers together with God in this life and are thus fitting for the
higher work and the unshadowed joy of the life to come.
[240]
247