April 24Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification — Rom. 15:2.
The lesson to each disciple of the Lord is that the special mission of his office, vocation, calling in the present time, is to sacrifice. … One form of service frequently not discerned by the Lord's disciples is the opportunity of renouncing our own ways or plans, our own methods or preferences, and in the interests of peace accepting instead the plans, the preferences of others—where it is merely a matter of personal preference, and where we believe the Lord will be as willing to have the matter one way as another. We can in the interests of peace sacrifice our preferences to the wishes of others, if we see some good can be gained by such a course—Z '14, 308, 309 (R 5555). From the connection, we see that St. Paul means by one's neighbor, a fellow disciple of the Lord Jesus, and others in a lesser sense. It is not only the duty, but also the privilege of the disciple of Christ to deny self in order to please the others, not their flesh, however, but their new hearts, minds and wills. This pleasing is to be for their good, so that they may be built up in faith, hope and love—P '30, 31. Parallel passages: Matt. 8:19-22; 10:37-39; 13:44-46; 16:24, 25; 19:12, 21; Luke 14:26-33; 21:2-4; John 12:25; Acts 20:22-24; 21:13; Rom. 14:1—15:5; 1 Cor. 6:12; 8:10-13; 9:12-27; 10:23, 24; Phil. 2:4; 3:7-11; 1 Pet. 2:11-16; 4:1, 2; Jude 1:20, 21. Hymns: 224, 8, 23, 95, 134, 170, 259. Poems of Dawn, 165: A Little Light. Tower Reading: Z '14, 69 (R 5412). Questions: Have I this week denied self for the brethren? How? Why? What helped or hindered therein? With what results? |
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A LITTLE LIGHT
'TWAS but a little light she bore,
While standing at the open door;
A little light, a feeble spark,
And yet it shone out through the dark
With cheerful ray, and gleamed afar
As brightly as the polar star.
A little light, a gentle hint,
That falls upon the page of print,
May clear the vision, and reveal
The precious treasures doubts conceal,
And guide men to an open door,
Where they new regions may explore.
A little light dispels the gloom
That gathers in the shadowed room,
Where want and sickness find their prey,
And night seems longer than the day,
And hearts with many troubles cope
And feebler glows the spark of hope.
Oh, sore the need that some must know
While journeying through this vale of woe!
Dismayed, disheartened, gone astray,
Caught in the thickets by the way,
For lack of just a little light
To guide their wandering steps aright.
It may be little we can do
To help another, it is true;
But better is a little spark
Of kindness, when the way is dark,
Than one should walk in paths forbidden
For lack of light we might have given.
'TWAS but a little light she bore,
While standing at the open door;
A little light, a feeble spark,
And yet it shone out through the dark
With cheerful ray, and gleamed afar
As brightly as the polar star.
A little light, a gentle hint,
That falls upon the page of print,
May clear the vision, and reveal
The precious treasures doubts conceal,
And guide men to an open door,
Where they new regions may explore.
A little light dispels the gloom
That gathers in the shadowed room,
Where want and sickness find their prey,
And night seems longer than the day,
And hearts with many troubles cope
And feebler glows the spark of hope.
Oh, sore the need that some must know
While journeying through this vale of woe!
Dismayed, disheartened, gone astray,
Caught in the thickets by the way,
For lack of just a little light
To guide their wandering steps aright.
It may be little we can do
To help another, it is true;
But better is a little spark
Of kindness, when the way is dark,
Than one should walk in paths forbidden
For lack of light we might have given.
