After all has been said for great deeds, dear Christian reader, patient continuance in well doing deserves the greatest praise. Bright occasions of self-denial or victory are worthy of our high admiration and thanksgiving, but a Christian life lived in patient continuance in well doing, how excellent it is! Hundreds of Christians begin well; few comparatively continue patiently in well doing. Really, the story of many Christians' lives is almost like that of the old fable of the tortoise and the hare. We remember how briskly the hare began her race, laughing at the prospect of the poor, slow, old tortoise ever getting in before her, and how that, when she had neared the winning post, she said she would just take a nap till the tortoise came up; and then she would dash in first. But she slept longer than she had meant to do, and all the time the slow plodder kept on and on; and so it was that, after all, his slow pace won the race. Or, rather, we should say, that despite his slow pace, he won the race.
Let them be plodding ever so slowly, but if they are on the race course, patiently continuing in well doing, we almost think they will exceed in the end some who make a fine start, but do little more.
We have no hesitation in saying that the most useful Christians known to us are those who have the most "stay" in them, and that our fitful friends who put on a great rush of energy now and then, are, as a rule, disappointing. We recall the happy service of some half a dozen young men in a poor district; and as we think of them, we remember first him of whom it used to be said, "You can rely on-, for he is always at his post." Our young friend never was late, and never forgot to do what he had engaged to perform; and this continued for some years. He was not the most brilliant worker of that little band, but he was the most reliable, for he was the most patient in well doing.
The other day we were hearing of another young man; he had begun his Christian career brightly, but, like so many, he had not continued with patience in well doing. What a position of danger is his! "No man, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." Luke 9:6262And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. (Luke 9:62).
If we are redeemed by Christ, we must be His disciples indeed, and follow Him. He does not offer us a bed of roses here; He offers us hardship. Those who would find in this world, which crucified their Lord, a place of ease, forget the cross. We cannot serve two masters. We must be out and out for Christ, or our Christianity is of little worth. And we say this, because a good heart for Christ gives the "stay" we need for our Christian life and work. One great reason, if not the reason, why there is not the patient continuance in well doing there should be in the Christian, is that there is a want of heart for Christ.
To point out an error without discovering the cause of it, and advancing the remedy, is poor physicianship; therefore we appeal to our Christian readers to make more of Christ in their hearts. Seek to have Him to you as your own personal Friend. Take your concerns to Him in private, tell Him your temptations, your difficulties, tell Him exactly what you feel to be your need, and what you know you ought to feel, but which you do not. He will meet all your wants, and that greatest want the Christian can have; namely, insensibility to want. There is no state more sorrowful than that of spiritual numbness, that of not feeling our coldness, our dullness, our deadness. But if we open our hearts to Christ, He will meet every need, known and unknown.