| Strength and Beauty |
Chapter 7 |
Page 4 |
The responsibility of being a branch has its application to every individual Christian. Each branch has its own place on the vine, its own space to fill. Though all the branches but one hang full of fruit, the one that is empty makes the vine a failure in the place where it hangs. Those who come to this particular branch, hungry, expecting to find fruit, are disappointed. Though a hundred Christian lives in a community are full of love, sympathy, and helpfulness and one lacks the power or the willingness to bless and serve, that one makes the love and grace of Christ in vain to those to whom that one was sent to be the bearer of these divine gifts.
If one star among all the stars of the sky should fail to shine some night, its light would be missed and there would be a blank in the sky. If one lighthouse lamp on all the coasts should not be lighted tonight, who can tell what disasters might happen before morning? This is an individual matter. The faithfulness of the multitude will not excuse the failure of one, the least and the lowliest one. When in the great orchestra the little piccolo did not do its part in the rehearsal the leader stopped everything till the lack was supplied. Not only does Christ in heaven miss the part of one of his who fails to live out his life in the world, but the hungry ones miss the food they crave, and those in darkness miss the light that is not shining, and sorrowing ones miss the comfort they should have received.
We should make this a personal matter. We are in danger of supposing that it is Christ’s work alone to bless the world, to save it, to do good to those who are in need of help. We talk about the Holy Spirit who was given after Christ had made his great sacrifice, and we are in danger of concluding that the work of Christ in the world is to be done altogether by the Spirit. We fall into the habit of praying God to send comfort and blessing to those who are in need or in sorrow, supposing that he will answer our prayers in some direct way. We do not realize that God is dependent upon us for the things we ask him to do, that with all his omnipotence he has so ordered that he needs our work and needs it well done so that his great work shall be made effective.
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