All
our work—we must do for God's eye!
Every truly consecrated life, with all its faculties, has been
given over to Christ. Faith implies full surrender. "You are not
your own." "You are Christ's." Christ owns us first by right of
creation, then by right of purchase. We acknowledge His
ownership and all that it includes, when we receive Him as our
Savior and Lord. The first question, therefore, of the new
believer is, "What will you have me to do, Lord?" We want to
begin to work for our new Master. A heart of love for Christ,
makes the sweeping of a room, the plowing of a field, the sawing
of a board, the making of a garment, the selling of a piece of
goods, the minding of a baby—as acceptable to God, as the
ministry of angels!
One way of working for Christ, therefore, is to be diligent in
the doing of life's common daily tasks. The true giving of
ourselves to God, exalts all of life into divine honor and
sacredness. Nothing is trivial or indifferent, which it is our
duty to do. We are never to neglect any work, however secular it
may seem—in order to do something else which appears to be more
religious. There are some people who would be better Christians,
if they paid more heed to their own daily business, attended
fewer church meetings and did less religious gossiping.
We need a religion which puts itself
into everything we do! The old shoemaker was right,
when he said that when he stands before the great white throne,
God will ask, "What kind of shoes did you make down on the
earth?" We must do all our work for the judgment day—our common
everyday tasks—as well as our religious duties. The carpenter
must get his religion into the houses he builds; the plumber
must get his religion into his plumbing; the tailor must get his
religion into his seams; the merchant must get his religion into
his sales. All our work—we must do for God's eye!
It is the little things which all of us can do in Christ's name,
which in the end leave the largest aggregate of blessing in the
world. We need not wait to do great and conspicuous things. A
life that every day gives its blessing to another, and adds to
the happiness of some fellow being, by only a word of kindness,
a thoughtful act, a cheering look, or a hearty hand grasp—does
more for the world than he who but once in a lifetime does some
great thing which fills a land with his praise. Nothing which is
done for Christ is lost! The smallest acts, the quietest words,
the gentlest inspirations which touch human souls, leave their
impress for eternity! "If you give even a cup of cold water to
one of the least of My followers, you will surely be rewarded."
Matthew 10:42
A young girl was asked what it meant for her to be a Christian.
She replied, "I suppose it is to do what Jesus would do—and
behave as Jesus would behave—if He were a young girl and lived
at our house." No better answer could have been given! The
greatest duty of a Christian, is to do what Jesus would do—and
to behave as He would behave—if He were precisely in our place,
and our circumstances.
J. R. Miller, In His Steps, 1897
