This is the third of six sections of "The Common Task", in F.B. Meyer's Light on
Life's Duties. Scripture added.
12 Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now
much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling,
13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.
14 Do everything without grumbling or arguing, 15 so that you may become blameless and
pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.”[a] Then you will
shine among them like stars in the sky 16 as you hold firmly to the word of life. And then I will
be able to boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain. -- Philippians 2:12-16 NIV
(3) — The Great Doing of Little Things Will Make a Great Life
Let it be granted that you are a person of ordinary ability.
It is as likely as not that you will never be removed into a wider sphere than the obscure one in which you have been pining, like a wood-bird in its cage.
Give up your useless regret, your querulous complaint, and begin to meet the call of trivial common-place, with tenderness to each person you encounter, with faith in God, as doing His best for you, with heroic courage and unswerving fidelity, with patience, thoroughness, submission.
Go on acting thus, week in and week out, year by year, with no thought of human notice, determined always to be at your best, eager only to pay out, without stint, the gold of a noble, unselfish heart.
At the end of life, though you wish not that your face glistens, others will see you shining like the sun in your Heavenly Father’s kingdom. It will be discovered that you have unwittingly lived a great life, and you will be greeted on the threshold of heaven with the “Well done” of your Lord.
Some who are sighing for a great life are unconconsciously living it in the eye of God’s angels.
- Those who forego marriage that they may bring up and educate the younger children of their homes;
- those who deny themselves almost the necessaries of life to bear the burdens for the weakness and trial of the aging or dying;
- those who are not only themselves pure amid temptation, but are also the champions of purity, shielding others;
- those who stand to the post of duty, though the fires, as they creep near, are scorching the skin and consuming the heart;
- those who meet the incessant demand of monotonous tasks with gentleness, unselfishness, and the wealth of a strong, true heart
–these though they know it not, are graduating for the front ranks of heaven’s nobility. [1]
"Oh! where is the sea?" the fishes cried,
As they swam the crystal clearness through:
"We've heard from of old of the ocean's tide,
And we long to look on the waters blue.
The wise ones speak of the infinite sea.
Oh! who can tell us if such there be?"
The lark flew up in the morning bright,
And sang and balanced on sunny wings;
And this was its song: "I see the light,
I looked o're the world of beautiful things;
But flying and singing everywhere,
In vain I have searched to find the air."
Join me tomorrow for part four in this six-part transcription of "The Common Task", by F.B. Meyer in Light on Life's Duties, 1895, Fleming H. Revell, Co. (available in the public domain on HathiTrust Digital Library).
Review Quote: “–not because we must, but because we choose–not as the slaves of circumstances, but as Christ’s freed ones–…” –F.B. Meyer, from Part 2, “The Common Task”
Prayer:
Creator Father, You are all-sufficient for my life. You have traded my sin and its death for life and approval and love. Forgive my discontent as I try to see too far into your plan. You are giving me Kingdom life every moment, if only I will see and choose this; help me to use my opportunities well just as they are today. When I praise you today, let me lift up my praise to you with deepest joy and gladness of heart. If I can help one person to see and experience the hope, forgiveness and life you purchased for them, let me do so with patience and foresight. If I can aid someone in a practical way that will cheer their soul in the fellowship of love and companionship, then let me do so in Your Name and not my own. If I can bear my own burden of sorrow and loss, grief or chronic illness, death of vision, or the debilitations and restrictions of maturity, then let me do so in faith, trusting that all I give to You is never lost or wasted, but is kept and treasured for all eternity in Your Sovereign care. As I carry out my common, obscure tasks, give me today the joy You have promised because of Christ. I choose You. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
Worship:
If I have wounded any soul today by Mahalia Jackson, uploaded by td241, Feb 5, 2011. [YouTube; 2:30 min.].
If I have wounded any soul today,
If I have caused on foot to go astray,
If I have walked in my own willful way,
Dear Lord, forgive.
Forgive the sins I now confess in Thee,
Forgive the secret sin I cannot see,
Oh, guide me, love me, and my keeper be,
Dear Lord, forgive.
If I have been perverse, or hard, or cold,
If I have longed for shelter in the fold,
When thou hast given me some fort to hold,
Dear Lord, forgive.
If I have uttered idle words or vain,
If I have turned aside from want or pain
Lest I offend some others through the strain,
Dear Lord, forgive.
-- Words: C. Maud Battersby
You Are My All in All, by Calvary Chapel Merritt Island Worship. Uploaded by Reggie Goo, Nov 16, 2011. [YouTube: 3:19 min.]. I have many wonderful years of precious worship memories with this church. Lead singer is the late Mary Barrett. Thank you, Pastor Malcolm Wild and Calvary Chapel Merritt Island for the very best in authentic congregational praise.