The Extra Plate
“Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do,
do it with thy might” (Ecclesiastes 9:10).
Sometimes what we do doesn’t seem like very much, or perhaps seems insignificant, but when it is done for the Lord, He will bless it.
“I cannot,” a man said to himself, “speak publicly, or do many other things in Christian service, but I can put two extra dinner plates on my table every Sunday and invite two young men who are away from home.”
He did this for more than thirty years, and became acquainted with a great number of young men. As a result of this faithful labor of love many were saved and became faithful Christians through his personal influence.
When he died he was to be buried in Andover, thirty miles distant, and because he was a well-known merchant, a special train was chartered to convey the funeral party. It was made known that any of his friends among the young men who had become Christians through his testimony would be welcomed in a special car set aside for them. One hundred and fifty packed into the car from end to end in memory of the man who preached to them the gospel of the extra dinner plate.
