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Saved to Serve
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insult, and a death of shame. He who was rich in heaven’s priceless
treasure became poor, that through His poverty we might be rich.
We are to follow in the path He trod.
He who becomes a child of God should henceforth look upon
himself as a link in the chain let down to save the world, one with
Christ in His plan of mercy, going forth with Him to seek and save
the lost.
Many feel that it would be a great privilege to visit the scenes
of Christ’s life on earth, to walk where He trod, to look upon the
lake beside which He loved to teach, and the hills and valleys on
which His eyes so often rested. But we need not go to Nazareth, to
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Capernaum, or to Bethany, in order to walk in the steps of Jesus. We
shall find His footprints beside the sickbed, in the hovels of poverty,
in the crowded alleys of the great cities, and in every place where
there are human hearts in need of consolation.
We are to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and comfort the
suffering and afflicted. We are to minister to the despairing, and to
inspire hope in the hopeless.
The love of Christ, manifested in unselfish ministry, will be more
effective in reforming the evildoer than will the sword or the court
of justice. These are necessary to strike terror to the lawbreaker, but
the loving missionary can do more than this. Often the heart that
hardens under reproof will melt under the love of Christ.
The missionary can not only relieve physical maladies, but he
can lead the sinner to the Great Physician, who can cleanse the soul
from the leprosy of sin. Through His servants, God designs that
the sick, the unfortunate, and those possessed of evil spirits shall
hear His voice. Through His human agencies He desires to be a
comforter such as the world knows not.
The Saviour has given His precious life in order to establish a
church capable of ministering to the suffering, the sorrowful, and
the tempted. A company of believers may be poor, uneducated, and
unknown; yet in Christ they may do a work in the home, in the
community, and even in “the regions beyond,” whose results shall
be as far-reaching as eternity.
To Christ’s followers today, no less than to the first disciples,
these words are spoken: