He cares also for our bodies, that we may have health. He gives us pure
crystal water to quench our thirst and cool us in fever, balmy
oxygen-laden air to build us up, and countless other blessings. Above all
this, he is himself to us a Great Physician whose word heals our suffering
bodies and takes us out of the grasp of death.
He cares for us spiritually, giving us his grace to help in every time of
need—to shield in temptation, to strengthen in trial, to make strong in
adversity, courageous in danger, and valiant in conflict.
Truly, he cares for us. Let us doubt and fear no more, but commit
ourselves to him, knowing that he will “in no wise fail” us.
TALK FIFTY-THREE. THREE TESTS OF LOVE
“Wherefore show ye to them, and before the churches, the proof of your
love” (2 Cor. 8: 24). Love is capable of demonstration. Where it really
exists, it will manifest itself. It need not be made known by mere
assertion. We are told to love not in word or in tongue, but in deed and
in truth. In these days there are many who, like some of old, show much
love with their mouths while their hearts are far from God. The test of
our love is not how much we talk about it, but how much we manifest it in
our lives. There are three tests of love, which never fail to show exactly
just how much we love. Let us consider them in order.
I. How Much We Serve.
We are told that Jacob loved Rachel so much that he served seven years for
her, and that those years seemed to him as only a few days. The amount of
our love to God is proved by our willingness to serve him. If there is in
us a disposition to do only what we please to do, and if we can, to
disregard any of the known will of God, it is a clear evidence that we do
not love him. It matters not what we profess, if we are not willing to put
obedience to God’s will before everything else, it is from lack of love.
Love makes people willing-hearted. There are many things to do; there are
many ways to serve; and love prompts us to serve wherever possible. If the
work of God stands first in our love, our hands will always be ready for
service. I have attended many camp-meetings, where I have noticed those on
whom the labor of the meeting fell. Everybody was willing to sit in the
meeting and enjoy the good sermons and take all the blessings they could
get; but when it came to the labor and responsibility connected with the
meeting, willingness suddenly disappeared, and a greater part of the
burden fell upon the ministers and a few consecrated brethren and sisters
who loved God and the people enough to go to work. I have often had
occasion to call for volunteers for service, and have often found that
many people who can say “Amen” and “Praise the Lord,” and perhaps shout in
meeting, become suddenly silent when it comes to volunteering for work.
The test of their love proves that love is wanting.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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