Making the Most of Life | Page 5

of a company of children, and I hear a whisper,
saying: "By and by I will be a great blessing to many. By and by other
lives will come and find nest and home in me. By and by the weary will
sit in the shadow of my strength. By and by I will sit as comforter in a
home of sorrow. By and by I will speak the words of Christ's salvation
in ears of lost ones. By and by I will shine in the full radiancy of the
beauty of Christ, and be among the glorified with my Redeemer." "You,
frail, powerless, little one?" I ask; and the answer is, "Yes; Christ and
I." And all these blessed possibilities that are in the life of the young
person must go upon the altar in the living sacrifice.
Take another view of it. Some people seem to suppose that only
spiritual exercises are included in this living sacrifice; that it does not
cover their business, their social life, their amusements. But it really

embraces the whole of life. We belong to God as truly on Monday as
on the Lord's Day. We must keep ourselves laid on God's altar as really
while we are at our week-day work as when we are in a prayer-meeting.
We are always on duty as Christians, whether we are engaged in our
secular pursuits or in exercises of devotion. All our work should
therefore be done reverently, "as unto the Lord."
We should do everything also for God's eye and according to the
principled of righteousness. The consecrated mechanic must put
absolute truth into every piece of work he does. The consecrated
business man must conduct his business on the principles of divine
righteousness. The consecrated millionaire must get his money on
God's altar, so that every dollar of it shall do business for God, blessing
the world. The consecrated housekeeper must keep her home so sweet
and so tidy and beautiful all the days, that she would never be ashamed
for her Master to come in without warning to be her guest. That is,
when we present ourselves to God as a living sacrifice, we are to be
God's in every part and in every phase of our life, wherever we go,
whatever we do.
"I cannot be of any use," says one. "I cannot talk in meetings. I cannot
pray in public. I have no gift for visiting the sick. There is nothing I can
do for Christ."
Well, if Christian service were all talking and praying in meetings, and
visiting the sick, it would be discouraging to such talentless people. But
are our tongues the only faculties we can use for Christ? There are
ways in which even silent people can belong to God and be a blessing
in the world. A star does not talk, but its calm, steady beam shines
down continually out of the sky, and is a benediction to many. A flower
cannot sing bird-songs, but its sweet beauty and gentle fragrance make
it a blessing wherever it is seen. Be like a star in your peaceful shining,
and many will thank God for your life. Be like the flower in your pure
beauty and in the influence of your unselfish spirit, and you may do
more to bless the world than many who talk incessantly. The living
sacrifice does not always mean active work. It may mean the patient
endurance of a wrong, the quiet bearing of a pain, cheerful

acquiescence in a disappointment.
"Noble deeds are held in honor; But the wide world sadly needs Hearts
of patience to unravel The worth of common deeds."
There are some people who think it impossible in their narrow sphere
and in their uncongenial circumstances to live so as to win God's favor
or be blessings in the world. But there is no doubt that many of the
most beautiful lives of earth, in Heaven's sight, are those that are lived
in what seem the most unfavorable conditions. A visitor to Amsterdam
wished to hear the wonderful music of the chimes of St. Nicholas, and
went up into the tower of the church to hear it. There he found a man
with wooden gloves on his hands, pounding on a keyboard. All he
could hear was the clanging of the keys when struck by the wooden
gloves, and the harsh, deafening noise of the bells close over his head.
He wondered why people talked of the marvellous chimes of St.
Nicholas. To his ear there was no music in them, nothing but terrible
clatter and clanging. Yet, all the while, there floated out over and
beyond the city the most entrancing music. Men in the fields paused in
their work to listen and were made glad. People in their