Chapter 302—Little Opportunities
Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might.
Ecclesiastes
9:10
.
Nothing will so arouse a self-sacrificing zeal and broaden and strengthen
the character as to engage in work for others.... None need wait until called to
some distant field before beginning to help others. Doors of service are open
everywhere. All around us are those who need our help. The widow, the
orphan, the sick and the dying, the heartsick, the discouraged, the ignorant,
and the outcast are on every hand.
We should feel it our special duty to work for those living in our
neighborhood. Study how you can best help those who take no interest
in religious things. As you visit your friends and neighbors, show an interest
in their spiritual as well as in their temporal welfare. Speak to them of
Christ as a sin-pardoning Saviour. Invite your neighbors to your home, and
read with them from the precious Bible and from books that explain its
truths. Invite them to unite with you in song and prayer. In these little
gatherings, Christ Himself will be present, as He has promised, and hearts
will be touched by His grace....
Many regret that they are living a narrow life. They themselves can make
their life broad and influential if they will. Those who love Jesus with heart
and mind and soul, and their neighbor as themselves, have a wide field in
which to use their ability and influence. Let none pass by little opportunities,
to look for larger work. You might do successfully the small work, but fail
utterly in attempting the larger work, and fall into discouragement. It is by
doing with your might what you find to do that you will develop aptitude for
larger work. It is by slighting the daily opportunities, by neglecting the little
things right at hand, that so many become fruitless and withered....
In fields where the conditions are so objectionable and disheartening
that many are unwilling to go to them, remarkable changes have been
wrought by the efforts of self-sacrificing workers. Patiently and perseveringly
they labored, not relying upon human power, but upon God, and His grace
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