Service is labor baptized and anointed, and consecrated to high ends.
William Carey, cobbling shoes in that dingy little room in
Leicester, tho he was never a skilful workman, yet cobbling
them as best he could, putting in honest leather and sound pegs
and strong stitches, and consecrating the toil to the service
of God’s kingdom, was as truly in the Father’s business as was
Dr. William Carey, the distinguished Oriental scholar, when
translating languages, preaching the gospel, and baptizing
converts in India. That little workshop, with its hammers and
awls and scraps of leather, represented a department of the
heavenly Father’s business. (Text.)
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* * * * *
Dr. Grenfell, whose devoted labors among deep-sea fishermen
are known and appreciated on both sides of the Atlantic, was
converted at a mission conducted in England by D. L. Moody.
Meeting the evangelist many years afterward, Dr. Grenfell
recalled the circumstance. Immediately Mr. Moody asked Dr.
Grenfell, “And what have you been doing since?” Christians must
not live on their past experiences. “What have you been doing
since?” will be the Master’s question.
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Jesus washed the disciples’ feet. A similar spirit was manifested by H.
B. Gibbud with excellent results, as told by him in this extract:
I was going from cell to cell among the prisoners, when one man
called me back, and asked if I remembered him. I did not.
“Well,” said he, “I remember you. You got me out of the ‘dives’
in Mulberry Bend in New York City about twelve years ago, took
me to the Florence Mission, and gave me a note to the Home of
Intemperate Men. Do you remember?”
I was unable to place him, as I had done a similar act for quite
a number.
“You will remember me, I think, when I tell you the
circumstances. I was nearly naked; you got some clothes for
me. I was shivering with delirium tremens, and could not dress
myself, so you drest me. Now you remember me, don’t you?”