The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1888-02-29
Following and Fishing.

Following comes before fishing. Wo arc
not ready for the Masters work until we are
the Masters disciples. Loving precedes
serving. We ought not to forget this. -, On
earth one may serve master one aIsNkes,
but it is not so in Christ's kingdom. Lowest
thou mel" must be answered atfirmatiHely
before the commission can be given, "Feed
INV sheep, feed my lambs" People some.
times talk about a "passion. for souls"
but there must be a passion for Christ Pc
fore there can be a passion for souls, Aln-
zendorf's motto is better, 81 have only one
passion and that is Hell" All service must
spring from this. =,
This is a vitality important truth to be
realized by those who are doing any work for
the Master, Sometimes our zeal seems TO
have tagged. We have not the old ardor.
This may be from weariness-not WEAKNESS
of. but WEAKNESS in the service. The
strongest of us get tired. Even Jesus grew
weary and slept in the wild storm. Nature
needs rest that the emptied life fountains
may be refllled. But in the waning OF our
earnestness and enthusiasm we need to be
very honest with ourselves; perhaps we are
losing our love for Christ. Perhaps we are
not working well because we are not loving
well. To work better We must seek, then, TO
love more.
Only in following can we be made fishers
q -
any who do not come after him. What then
is following? 1t is loving. Christ orbs him
self into such beauty and splendor before the
eyes that all other beauty and other splen-
dors fade out, as stars fade from the sky IN
the brightness of the SUMS rising. Then love
begets faith. We are ready to commit our
selves forever to him who stands before US IN
such glory and calls us to follow him. Faith
leads to conservation. Other objects
of possession, hitherto priced ,Iaaa ana
sung to with comonTsen fonaaes with appsh the
richer and more glorious things that Christ
offers. II child's hand is full Of pebbles
ard bits Of tinsel and it is offered bright gold
and silver, it will instantly drop the worth.
less things to take the better. So it Is that
earth's things are given up by us older chill
dren when we perceive the real yaue OF tne
riches Of grace. People sometimes talk dole
fully Of the sacrifices tho Christian has 20
make to follow Christ. Is it sacrifice Wnen
one loses tinsel to get gold, or sins pleasures
to get the deep joy of the Lord!
Following implies also union with personal
attachment to Christ. We enter his family.
We live with him ever after. We get our
life directly from him and take our lessons
from his lips. Where he goes we go; Where
he leads we follow. People forget sometimes
that at the centre, the heart Of oil Christian
life. must be Christ himself. We are Chris
tians not because we accept creed, because
we unite with church. but because we &C
cept Christ and are united to HIM.
fter the following comes the fishing, yet
tho Master has q word OF encouragement
which we should not overlook. Follow
me- me- he saws, "and will make you fishers Of
men" Good Christian people often speak
Iis distrustingIy of their ability to do Christ's
work. Truly of ourselves we ore not able to
catch eouls. Hut Christ nowhere says we are;
indeed he most omphatcally teaches that we
arc not, until he has taught US and trained train "a
,rannration ny, before hs sent them out finally
ptbbt. NIX their great commission. So we are to
follow Christ, thus putting ourselves under
his hands and by his grace he will make US
fishers of rnen.-[Philadelphi Presbyterian.