Children of God and Servants of Christ
It is one thing to be a child of God; it is quite another to be a servant of Christ. I may love my child very much, yet if I set him to work in my garden, he may do more harm than good. Why? Is it because he is not a practiced servant? This makes all the difference. Relationship and office are distinct things. It is not that all of God's children have not something to do, something to suffer, something to learn. Undoubtedly they have; yet it ever holds good that public service, and private discipline are intimately connected in the ways of God. One who comes forward much in public, will need that chastened spirit, that matured judgment, that subdued mind, that broken will, that mellow tone, which are the sure and beautiful results of God's secret discipline; and it will generally be found that those who take a prominent place, without more or less of the above moral qualifications, will sooner or later break down. Lord Jesus, keep thy feeble servants very near unto thine own most blessed person and in the hollow of thine hand.—Sel.