Every truly consecrated life has been made over to Christ with all its powers. Faith implies full surrender: “ye are not your own;” “Ye are Christ’s.” Christ owns us first by right of creation, then by right of purchase; and we acknowledge his ownership and all that it includes when we accept him as our Saviour and Lord. The first question, therefore, of the new believing heart is, “What shall I do, Lord?” We want to begin to work for our new Master.
“Be thy best thoughts to work divine addressed;
Do something–do it soon–with all thy might;
An angel’s wings would droop if long at rest,
And God himself, inactive, were no longer blest.”
We belong to Christ; we are his slaves – that is the word St. Paul used so much, and with such a thrill of joy as the thought of the honor it denoted. He was Christ’s slave. “Whose I am, and whom I serve,” was his working creed. “Thy will, not mine,” is henceforth the only true law of life for us. We are to wait at each step for Christ’s bidding. Our very thoughts must be brought into captivity to him.
This ownership covers and embraces all life. A heart of love for Christ makes the sweeping of a room, the ploughing 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, all actions as fine as the ministry of angels.
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