To those who seek to serve their gracious Master in the ministry of the Word in Sunday school work, in street preaching, in tract distribution, or any other form of labor for the Lord, I would say in deep affection, See to it that your service is the outcome of communion with Christ. Rivers of living water can only flow from those who go to Him and drink, and they must go continually. Be careful to allow nothing to cloud your enjoyment of divine love, and seek to realize for yourselves the exceeding preciousness of Christ, so that when you speak of Him it may be out of the fullness of a heart made abundantly happy. It is true, the outward form of service may be sustained by the mere energy of nature, and apart from communion with Christ, but then the key element will be wanting that makes the service acceptable to Him, and your own souls will be enfeebled and become like withered grass.
Also, be on your guard against making service your one object. Those who do so seldom serve well. We have known earnest men who have fallen into this snare. They are never satisfied unless always on the move and they think little of others who do not follow in their steps. Now Martha served much, and found fault with one who seemed to serve less; yet the latter received the Lord's commendation, and Martha missed it. There is a zeal that compasses sea and land, but it is not fed from celestial fires. There is a running to and fro with restless feet, and a doing of this and that which, after all, may be but the religious activity of the flesh, which fades away.
Cultivate communion with God, be much in prayer, and spend time over the Word of God, that your own soul may be fed. How else shall you feed others? "It is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen? Or saith He it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written." 1 Cor. 9:9, 109For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen? 10Or saith he it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he that ploweth should plow in hope; and that he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope. (1 Corinthians 9:9‑10). In thinking of others, and laboring for their good, God would have us also feed ourselves. We shall soon famish if we do not, and spiritual strength will decline. We shall be keepers of the vineyards of others while our own vineyards have not been kept.
You will find it a deadening habit to read the Word only to search out something for other people. It is Gibeonitish service (Josh. 9:2121And the princes said unto them, Let them live; but let them be hewers of wood and drawers of water unto all the congregation; as the princes had promised them. (Joshua 9:21)). Moreover, what you gather up and set before others will be mere religious information in which there will be no heavenly unction. It differs from the living ministry of the Holy Ghost, as chalk from cheese.
Be faithful also in little things; it may be that God will trust you with greater matters. We are a little afraid of those who neglect the commonplace duties of everyday life for what they are pleased to think and call the work of the Lord. At all events, do faithfully and well whatever comes to your hand. In a humble school, far removed from public observation, God trains His servants for their higher mission. Moses was forty years in the back side of the desert, keeping the flocks of his father-in-law, before he was called to lead out the tribes of Israel from the house of bondage; and David in the wilderness, watching over the few sheep of Jesse, was there prepared for his conflict with Goliath in the valley of Elah. The years thus spent were not wasted years; the fruit of them was seen ever afterward.