_THE PURIFICATION OF LOVE_
JOHN xxi. 15-25.
"Lovest thou Me?" There was a day, only a little while back, when Simon
Peter's love was not yet purified, and it indulged itself in loud and
empty boasts. True love never blusters and brawls. It is like a stream of
water flowing silently underground, and secretly bathing the roots of
things, and keeping their heads fresh, and cool, and sweet. The boast has
now dropped out of the love! It is now ashamed of words! "Lord, Thou
knowest that I love Thee!"
Yes, true love expresses itself, not in clamorous boastfulness, but in
quiet services. It ministers to the Lord's sheep and the Lord's lambs. It
spends its strength on the mountains, "seeking that which is lost," and it
does this in the darkness, where there is no applauding crowd. The true
lover does not ask for some dramatic scene where he can die for the
beloved; he delights in obscure services, the feeding and tending of the
sheep of the flock.
But the love that does the humbler thing will be ready for the greater
sacrifice whenever the day shall demand it. Some day the once boastful
denier shall lay down his life for his Saviour, and through martyrdom he
shall pass to his crown.