Making the Most of Life | Page 7

had gone back for a time to their old work of
fishing. They were poor men, and this was probably necessary in order
to provide for their own subsistence. Thus fishing was the duty that lay
nearest. Yet it must have been dreary work for them after the exalted
privileges they had enjoyed so long. Think what the last three years had
been to these men. Jesus had taken them into the most intimate
fellowship with himself--into closest confidential friendship. They had
listened to his wonderful words, seen his gracious acts, and witnessed
his sweet life. Think what a privilege it was to live thus with Jesus
those beautiful years; what glimpses of heaven they had; what visions
of radiant life shone before them.
But now this precious experience was ended. The lovely dream had
vanished. They were back again at their old work. How dreary it must
have been--this tiresome handling of oars and boats and fishing-nets,
after their years of exalted life with their Master! But it is a precious

thought to us that just at this time, when they were in the midst of the
dull and wearisome work, and when they were sadly discouraged,
Christ appeared to them. It showed his interest in their work, his
sympathy with them in their discouragement, and his readiness to help
them.
Then the revealings of his appearance that morning are for all his
friends and for all time. We know now that our risen Saviour is
interested in whatever we have to do, and is ready to help us in all our
dull, common life. He will come to his people, not in the church service,
the prayer-meeting, the Holy Supper only, but is quite as apt to reveal
himself to them in the task-work of the plainest, dullest day. Susan
Coolidge writes:--
"That thy full glory may abound, increase, And so thy likeness shall be
formed in me, I pray; the answer is not rest or peace, But changes,
duties, wants, anxieties, Till there seems room for everything but thee,
And never time for anything but these.
"And I should fear, but lo! amid the press, The whirl and hum and
pressure of my day, I hear thy garments sweep, thy seamless dress, And
close beside my work and weariness Discern thy gracious form, not far
away, But very near, O Lord, to help and bless.
"The busy fingers fly; the eyes may see Only the glancing needle which
they hold; But all my life is blossoming inwardly, And every breath is
like a litany; While through each labor, like a thread of gold, Is woven
the sweet consciousness of thee."
There are duties in every life that are irksome. Young people
sometimes find school work dull. There are faithful mothers who many
a day grow weary of the endless duties of the household. There are
good men who tire ofttimes of the routine of office, or store, or mill, or
farm. There comes to most of us, at times, the feeling that what we
have to do day after day is not worthy of us. We have had glimpses, or
brief experiences, of life in its higher revealings. It may have been a
companionship for a season with one above us in experience or
attainment, that has lifted us up for a little time into exalted thoughts

and feelings, after which it is hard to come back again to the old
plodding round, and to the old, uninteresting companionships. It may
have been a visit to some place or to some home, with opportunities,
refinements, inspirations, privileges, above those which we can have in
our own narrower surroundings and plainer home and less congenial
intimacies.
Or our circumstances may have been rudely changed by some
providence that has broken in upon our happy life. It may have been a
death that cut off the income, or a reverse in business that swept away a
fortune, and luxury and ease and the material refinements and
elegances of wealth have to be exchanged for toil and plain
circumstances and a humbler home. There are few sorer tests of
character than such changes as these bring with them. The first thought
always is: "How can I go to this dreary life, these hard tasks, this
painful drudgery, this weary plodding, after having enjoyed so long the
comforts and refinements of my old happy state?"
In such cases immeasurable comfort may be found in this appearance
of the risen Christ that morning on the shore. The disciples took up
their dull old work because it was necessary, and was their plain duty
for the time; and there was Jesus waiting to greet them and bless them.
Accept your hard tasks, and do them cheerfully, no matter how irksome
they appear, and Christ will