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Call by the Sea
143
learned by all who would become workers with God is the lesson
of self-distrust; then they are prepared to have imparted to them the
character of Christ. This is not to be gained through education in
scientific schools.
How True Servants Are Educated
Jesus chose unlearned fishermen because they had not been
schooled in the erroneous customs of their time. They were men of
native ability, and they were humble and teachable. In the common
walks of life many a man is patiently treading the round of daily toil,
unconscious that he possesses powers which, if called into action,
would raise him to equality with the world’s most honored men. The
touch of a skillful hand is needed to arouse those dormant faculties.
Such men Jesus called to be His colaborers. When the disciples
came forth from the Saviour’s training, they had become like Him
in mind and character.
The highest work of education is to impart that vitalizing energy
received through the contact of mind with mind, and soul with soul.
Only life can beget life. What a privilege, then, was theirs who
for three years were in daily contact with that divine life! John
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the disciple says, “From His fulness have we all received, grace
upon grace.”
John 1:16
, RSV. The lives of these men, the characters
they developed, and the mighty work wrought through them, are
a testimony to what God will do for all who are teachable and
obedient. There is no limit to the usefulness of one who, putting
self aside, makes room for the working of the Holy Spirit upon his
heart, and lives a life wholly consecrated to God. If men will endure
the necessary discipline, God will teach them hour by hour. He
takes men as they are and educates them for His service, if they
will yield themselves to Him. The Spirit of God, received into the
soul, will quicken all its faculties. The mind devoted unreservedly
to God develops harmoniously and is strengthened to comprehend
and fulfill His requirements. The weak character becomes one of
steadfastness.
Continual devotion establishes so close a relation between Jesus
and His disciple that the Christian becomes like Him in mind and
character. He will have clearer and broader views, his discernment