OS 1:8{)It would be a very solemn thing to work merely for others, while neglecting our own souls. Whilst we should be simple in our ministry, as far as possible, we should ever be apprehending more of God's mind for ourselves. We cannot neglect any part of it without damage, and especially should we know His mind for the present dispensation, and for the
far end of it too! To be in the mind of Christ (
1 Cor. 2:1616For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ. (1 Corinthians 2:16)) is the normal condition of the believer, as indwelt by the Spirit of God. Practically this involves being led of the Spirit; in the heart being engaged with the Lord Himself where He is, in that personal communion from whence alone all true service, as all walk for, and with Him, has its spring. May we be much in His presence, for the soul's joy, and for the true learning His mind as expressed in the inspired Word.
The following suggestions of a practical character may be helpful.
1. Keep your heart open. Cultivate love for souls. Dwell much on God's love, which gave up everything for sinners to be saved and blessed according to His purpose. You will soon learn to give up leisure time, and your best, to be in line with His heart. Think of the Lord Jesus and His sufferings to save them, and you will learn to suffer hardships and fatigue to win souls for Him. Think of their past history, their present need, and the awful future of the unbelieving. These things should move us more, as well as the fact of God's love and grace. Think how the Lord Jesus, knowing though He did all God's purposes, yet wept unfeignedly when sinners rejected His testimony. And if you think of them, you will pray for them; and we learn to love those for whom we pray.
Keep your eyes open. Do not be afraid to illustrate your addresses from Nature, or Nature's objects, nor hesitate to use in moderation instances of conversion, which you are prepared to substantiate. Despite the objection of some, we cannot improve on the Master's way of doing service, and who can read the gospels without remarking that He illustrated His addresses from the common objects of every-day life? He employed facts from natural history, episodes in domestic life, transactions between masters and servants, and even occurrences in the political world (kings and subjects) along with providential circumstance, such as accidents, etc., to give point to His words. Even the very weather served Him again and again.
Keep your note-book open. Some spend more time than others in this matter. In your private readings or meditations you will often pick up useful material. Use a note-book for yourself, as well as for your work. Often a train of thought will occur to you in a chapter of a book of the Bible; jot it down and pass on. Sometimes an illustration of a truth will flash into your mind jot it down. Now and then a point or two for a gospel address will take shape as you watch and pray-jot it down. Or you may hear a pithy remark, or a stirring subject, from the lips of some other saint seeking to serve the Lord jot it down. Do not scruple to make a note of it, nor, if led of the Lord, to preach from it yourself with your own words and your own illustrations. As your note-books multiply, copy any worthy items into your study Bible. It is exceedingly refreshing sometimes to go over these old memoranda, recalling what God has shown us in bygone times.
Keep your purse open. It is wonderful what an interest we take in the Lord's work, and that part of it He has set us in, when it costs us something. The rich man pay £5a night for a big hall to preach in. You can perhaps only afford a shilling a week for a cottage for your work. He may send books to all parts of the world in the Master's service. It is as much as some can do to scrape together a few pence now and then for tracts. He may give his houses rent free to the needy, and clothe with warm covering the naked, and frequently feed the hungry; with others it is a severe push to give half-a-crown in the Master's name to some deserving soul. But whether the more or the less, there is great sweetness and profit in doing that which costs us something, and God loves a cheerful giver. What grace it is that makes us givers in a world like this.
We may have stiff work; but the plowshare furrows well, and our service is to put the seed in. Perhaps we, perhaps others, may reap; it makes little difference which, as all the wheat is to go into the Master's garner.