"Who went about doing good."--Acts, x. 38.
"Christ's great end," says Richard Baxter, "was to save men from their
_sins_; but He delighted to save them from their _sorrows_." His heart
bled for human misery. Benevolence brought Him from heaven; benevolence
followed His steps wherever He went on earth. The journeys of the Divine
Philanthropist were marked by tears of thankfulness, and breathings of
grateful love. The helpless, the blind, the lame, the desolate, rejoiced
at the sound of His footfall. Truly might it be said of Him, "When the
ear heard me, then it blessed me; and when the eye saw me, it gave
witness to me." (Job, xxix. 11.) All suffering hearts were a magnet to
Jesus. It was not more His prerogative than His happiness to turn tears
into smiles. One of the few pleasures which on earth gladdened the
spirit of the "Man of sorrows" was the pleasure of _doing
good_--soothing grief, and alleviating misery. Next to the joy of the
widow of Nain when her son was restored, was the joy in the bosom of the
Divine Restorer! He often went out of His way to be kind. A journey was
not grudged, even if _one_ aching spirit were to be soothed. (Mark, v.
1; John, iv. 4, 5.) Nor were his kindnesses dispensed through the
intervention of others. They were all personal acts. His own hand
healed. His own voice spake. His own footsteps lingered on the threshold
of bereavement, or at the precincts of the tomb. Ah! had the princes of
this world known the loving-tenderness and unselfishness of _that_
heart, "they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory"!
Reader! do you know any thing of such active benevolence? Have you never
felt the _luxury_ of doing good? Have you never felt, that in making
_others_ happy, you make _your self_ so? that, by a great law of your
being, enunciated by the Divine Patron and Pattern of Benevolence, "it
is more blessed to give than to receive"? Has God enriched you with this
world's goods? Seek to view yourself as a consecrated medium for
dispensing them to others. Beware alike of penurious hoarding and
selfish extravagance. How sad the case of those whose lot God has made
thus to abound with temporal mercies, who have gone to the grave
unconscious of diminishing one drop of human misery, or making one of
the world's myriad aching hearts happier! How the example of _Jesus_
rebukes the cold and calculating kindnesses--the mite-like offerings of
many even of His own people! "whose libation is not like His, from the
brim of an overflowing cup, but from the bottom--from the _dregs_!"
You may have little to give. Your sphere and means may be alike limited.
But remember God can be as much glorified by the trifle saved from the
earnings of poverty, as by the splendid benefaction from the lap of
plenty "The Lord loveth a _cheerful_ giver."
The nobler part of Christian benevolence is not vast largesses,
munificent pecuniary sacrifices. "_He went about_ doing good." The
merciful visit--the friendly word--the look of sympathy--the cup of cold
water, the little unostentatious service--the giving without thought or
hope of recompense--the kindly "considering of the poor"--anticipating
their wants--studying their comforts; these are what God values and
loves. They are "loans" to Himself--tributary streams to "the river of
_His_ pleasure;" they will be acknowledged at last as such--"Ye did it
unto _Me_."
"ARM YOURSELVES LIKEWISE WITH THE SAME MIND."
Twenty-fourth Day.