Making the Most of Life

Making the Most of Life, by J. R.
Miller

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Title: Making the Most of Life
Author: J. R. Miller
Release Date: September 6, 2006 [EBook #19193]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII
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THE MOST OF LIFE ***

Produced by Al Haines

Making the Most of Life
BY
J. R. MILLER, D.D.

AUTHOR OF "SILENT TIMES," "THINGS TO LIVE FOR,"
"BUILDING OF CHARACTER," "THE GOLDEN GATE OF
PRAYER," ETC.

"I am the Lord thy God Which teacheth to profit." ISAIAH.

New York
THOMAS Y. CROWELL & CO.
PUBLISHERS

Copyright, 1891, by T. Y. CROWELL & Co.

A WORD OF INTRODUCTION.
Alexander was accustomed to say; "Philip of Macedon gave me life,
but it was Aristotle who taught me how to make the most of life."
To have the gift of life is a solemn thing. Life is God's most sacred trust.
It is not ours to do with as we please; it must be accounted for, every
particle, every power, every possibility of it.
These chapters are written with the purpose and hope of stimulating
those who may read them to earnest and worthy living. If they seem
urgent, if they present continually motives of thoughtfulness, if they
dwell almost exclusively on the side of obligation and responsibility, if
they make duty ever prominent and call to self-renunciation and
self-sacrifice, leaving small space for play, it is because life itself is
really most serious, and because we must meet it seriously, recognizing
its sacred meaning and girding ourselves for it with all earnestness and

energy.
If this book shall teach any how to make the most of the life God has
entrusted to them, that will be reward enough for the work of its
preparation. To this service it is affectionately dedicated, in the name of
Him who made the most of his blessed life by losing it in love's
sacrifice, and who calls us also to die to self that we may live unto God.
J. R. M.
PHILADELPHIA.

CONTENTS.
CHAPTER
I.
MAKING THE MOST OF LIFE II. LAID ON GOD'S ALTAR III.
CHRIST'S INTEREST IN OUR COMMON LIFE IV. THE
POSSIBILITIES OF PRAYER V. GETTING CHRIST'S TOUCH VI.
THE BLESSING OF A BURDEN VII. HEART-PEACE BEFORE
MINISTRY VIII. MORAL CURVATURES IX. TRANSFIGURED
LIVES X. THE INTERPRETATION OF SORROW XI. OTHER
PEOPLE XII. THE BLESSING OF FAITHFULNESS XIII.
WITHOUT AXE OR HAMMER XIV. DOING THINGS FOR
CHRIST XV. HELPING AND OVER-HELPING XVI. THE ONLY
ONE XVII. SWIFTNESS IN DUTY XVIII. THE SHADOWS WE
CAST XIX. THE MEANING OF OPPORTUNITIES XX. THE SIN
OF INGRATITUDE XXI. SOME SECRETS OF HAPPY HOME LIFE
XXII. GOD'S WINTER PLANTS XXIII. UNFINISHED
LIFE-BUILDING XXIV. IRON SHOES FOR ROUGH ROADS XXV.
THE SHUTTING OF DOCKS

MAKING THE MOST OF LIFE.

CHAPTER I.
MAKING THE MOST OF LIFE.
"Measure thy life by loss instead of gain; Not by the wine drunk, but
the wine poured forth; For love's strength standeth in love's sacrifice,
And whoso suffers most hath most to give." --The Disciples.
According to our Lord's teaching, we can make the most of our life by
losing it. He says that losing the life for his sake is saving it. There is a
lower self that must be trampled down and trampled to death by the
higher self. The alabaster vase must be broken, that the ointment may
flow out to fill the house. The grapes must be crushed, that there may
be wine to drink. The wheat must be bruised, before it can become
bread to feed hunger.
It is so in life. Whole, unbruised, unbroken men are of but little use.
True living is really a succession of battles, in which the better
triumphs over the worse, the spirit over the flesh. Until we cease to live
for self, we have not begun to live at all.
We can never become truly useful and helpful to others until we have
learned this lesson. One may live for self and yet do many pleasant
things for others; but one's life can never become the great blessing to
the world it was meant to be until the law of self-sacrifice has become
its heart principle.
A great oak stands in the forest. It is beautiful in its majesty; it is
ornamental; it casts a pleasant shade. Under its branches the children
play; among its boughs the birds sing. One day the woodman comes
with