Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-05-21
CHRISTIAN ENDEAyOR HOUR
Conducted by Grace Livingston I'LL.
For May %, 1901

| 81 And he said unto her, What wilt
/ thou? She saith unto Him, Grant that
these my two sons may sit. the one on Thy
| right hand, and the other on Thy left. in
Thy kingdom.
| % But Jesus answered and said Ye
know not what We ask. Are ye able to
drink of the cup that I shall drink Of and
| to be baptized with the baptism that l am
baptized with? They said unto Him, We
are able
o. And He saith unto them, Ye shall
drink indeed of my cup. and be baptized
with the baptism that / am baptized with;
but to sit on my right hand. and on my
left, is not mine to give, but 1T shall be
given to them for whom it is prepared of
my Father.
"a. And when the ter. heard it they were
moved with Indignation against the two
brethren.
% But Jesus called them unto Him. and
said. Ye know that the princes of the Cen
tiles exercise dominion over them, and they
that are great exercise authority upon
them.
26. But it shall not be so among you:
but whatsoever will be great among you
let him be your minister;
q. And whosoever will be chief among
you, let him be your servant:
%. Even as the Son of Man came not to
be ministered unto, but to minister and to
give His life a ransom for many.
1t is the kind, not the existence or ex-
| tent of ambition that has peril in it. When
| the apostle says, Goodness with content
| ment is great gain, he is far from meaning
| a goodness that is content with itself.
| There is divine unrest, a spiritual ambi-
| ton for higher life, that is the inevitable
result of the presence in the heart OF the
| Holy Spirit. But an ambition that centers
| itself on anything lower than this will often
| greedily seize and make to serve itself all
| the powers of the soul, rendering it impossi-
| bic for the Holy Spirit to remain, because
| He finds no communion with Himself, no
| attention paid to HIS loving counsel.
| The Zebedee family seem to have utterly
| misunderstood the whole plan of the new
| kingdom of Christ. They believed in Him
| fully. They loved Him with their whole
| souls. but like many of us of His follow
| ers today they Inexperienced. They
| seized upon the outer shell and cared not
| for the kernel inside. They thought that
| kingdom meant power and greatness, mag
| nificence and glory, a pulling down of the
| mighty wicked and setting up of the true
| and good, though they might be weak And
| SO Mrs. Zebedee, having probably talked
| the matter over carefully at home and de-
| cided what would be best for her dear boys.
| came to Jesus with her request, many
| another of US does today with our fond
| blind ambitions, asking for what we think
| is blessing and knowing not that 1t would
bring to us curse instead.
The kingdom she reasoned, is coming
very soon. The Master will have need of
| good men at the head of His affairs Who
more fit for high positions than John and
| James? She makes up her mind to put in
| the application Immediately 1t will be
| well to call the Masters attention to their
fitting qualities. for why should not her
| sons stand first instead of some of the
other disciples? Poor soul! She knows not
| what she asks. In spite of all the teaching
Jesus has given them they do not under
| stand. The spiritual kingdom He has
| come to establish means nothing to them.
| They long for the pomp and ceremony of
| the world. They wish to stand at the head
| of he GOV ora6 bo cd f,I x,
/ the high priests and scribes and Pharisees.
They desire to see the tables turned and
| find themselves the one to grant favors
rather than to ask
The law that only those who give I'D their
/ lives shall find them has not entered into
| the consciousness of these. They know not
| that every step that is truly upward must
| be taken upon their dead selves, and that
| only the humble may rise.
Tenderly Jesus asks, Are you willing to
| drink of the cup that must drink OFF,
| And with eager ignorance they answer
| biithely, We are able All confidently
they are willing to undertake the trials to
| attain the honors.
| Then patiently once more Jesus explains
&c them, that they may indeed attain the
| honor cf suffering with Him. That they
must do IL they would be His and enter into
| His king dom at all, but as to whom shall
| be greater that is not His to give. The
Father will judge who is worthy of that po-
sltion. He has arranged that long ago.
How sad and discouraging it must have
been to Jesus to have His followers stoop to
| such petty ambitions when He had opened
| to them way to high places in the king
dom of heaven, and they cared only for the
| vanity Of earth! And yet how gentle He
was with them How, when the other dis
cfpleS got angry with these two ambitious
| brethren, He took them and explained once
more the deeper meaning of His spiritual
kingdom. And yet today even we have not
half understood. This is a lesson to us by
| the way to deal gently with the false ambi-
tons of our brother Christians, and not de-
spise them too much, lest we also shall
| some time find our own ambitions turning
earthward, instead of heavenward.
And We Christ's followers of today, need
as much as then to learn that Christ's king
dom means giving up OF this life, serv-
ing rather than Icing served. a mnistering.
rather than being ministered unto in short
to give ones life ransom for many
Would it not be a good thing for all Chris
tian Endeavorers this day to carefully ex-
anime their souls and find out whether their
ambitions are the kind in which Jesus will
bear them out? Perhaps we shall be as
tonished if we honestly examine ourselves
Perhaps we shall even be moved with indig-
| nation against ourselves Let US look into
this matter.
Applied Truth.
There is q story told of young man
who had been given permission by his
parents to crafty his dearest ambition and
study law. He met renowned old scholar
whom he told Of his good fortune, ex-
planning with much satisfaction what good
use he intended to make OF his time in the
| university.
The professor asked him what he intend
ed to do after he had finished his course of
study. Oh, then 1 shall take my doc
| tors degree" he answered. "and then I
shall have a number of difficult cases to
manage which will increase my fame, and
I shall gain a great reputation"
"And them" asked the man. ''Why then
there cannot be question, shall be pro-
| NOTED to some high office, and besides l
shall make money and grow rich" "And
them. said the man. Then, replied the
youth. 81 shall live In honor and dignity
and be able to look forward to happy old
age" "And then?' was asked again. And
then-and Them said the youth, 81 shall
die" "And them" came the question once
more. But the young man could answer
no more He went away sorrowfuI.
How to Help the Leader.
Watch your ambitions and try to make
them secondary to Jesus and His work.
Say few words in the meeting of your
experience in fighting your own wrong am
billions.