Lincoln County leader. [volume] (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987, 1906-01-26
SATISFACTION OF SERVICE.
By Rev. Henry

WI tht NOlh ho VI ullL Iudl
sent me while it is day. AS
long as l am In the world l am the
light Of the world.-John tx, As.
A man always thinks more of his
work than of his wages. He would
never be content to toll day in and day
out but for the thought that somehow
to some one his work was worth while.
Neither wages, nor salary, nor any
other cash consideration would of it.
self be sufficient to satisfy him. The
workman is proud Of the product of
his hands; his reward is in that he
has made; the good shepherd thinks
more Of the flock than of their fleece
or his pay.
Satisfaction In work can only come
from service rendered. Whether a
man be plowing or preaching, sweep
ing the streets or building empires,
his work is only worthy if his motive
be the good he is doing, the value of
the work itself. We call the man who
breaches a minister, a servant There
is no more honorable title, but 1t be-
longs to every one who seeks to do
any worthy work in the world.
The purpose Of living is service,
therefore the business of religion must
be the cultivation Of proficiency in ser
vice. The work of Christianity is to
teach men how to be most valuable
and useful as children and parents, as
neighbors and citizens, how to make
the most Of their lives and to do the
most with them. 1t aims to bring the
race to its highest efficiency.
Religion reveals to man the worth
while object Of all his endeavors, to
work as a servant for others. Never
was Jesus more glorious than when
he stopped to lift the palsied, to heal
the sick, to feed the hungry He
found his right to rule men by his
exercise Of the privilege Of serving
them. The sheep belong to the good
shepherd because he gives his life to
them.
This marks the true follower of the
great Teacher to-day; his business is
to serve, he makes living an invest
ment for humanity. He is command
ed to lose his life, to be willing to give
up, to sacrifice all in self-denal, to
take his cross and suffer persecution
and loss in this way of walking after
his Master.
But he is not told to throw his life
away as a worthless thing. He is to
lose 1t as the seed is lost in the SOW
ing, as the money in the investing; to
sacrifice it as the tool Is sacrificed to
that which it is carving. He who
would be Of real service to the world
must cultivate the best in himself IF
living Is seed sowing, then the seed
must be good or the harvest will be
thin.
Heavens work demands the finest
tools. Nothing is too good for the SER
vice of humanity. There is good
deal more religion in the honest at
tempt to make the most of yourself,
to keep health, to secure education
and culture, In order that you may
have the larger, better, wealthier self
to use in service than in unending as
cetlc exercises, prayers, devotions,
meditations. mumblng, or visions of
things spiritual.
The only way you can prove the
genuineness Of your religion is by your
gifts to the children of God, your own
brothers about you. There is no gift
that begins to compare in value with
well trained, well equipped, strong
and clean life. We cannot all give
gold or lands, or even learning to men,
but we can all give lives, and that
which heaven and earth both have
right to expect is that we shall give
the best lives we can.
Some think they are entitled to the