The other day, looking out of a train, as we stopped at a country
station, I saw a row of buckets painted red, with the word FIRE on each
of them. There they were, waiting to be used, if occasion required, and
I noticed that each of them was filled with water. Only a humble kind of
agent is a bucket, yet being full of water and near at hand, it is easy
to see that in the event of fire breaking out there, it is more than
likely it would be put out without doing much damage.
Are we,--Ministers, Local Preachers, Sunday School Teachers,
Class-leaders, and other workers--are we ready for use? It is not enough
that people can tell by our appearance that we are separated for
service--are we ready? It did not suffice the man in charge of that
little station to have those buckets on the stand, and it is not enough
that we are in the pulpit or the class-room.