Christian Humility by Octavius Winslow

The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Mar 21, 1865

Christian Humility.

By Octavius Winslow

If the Lord saw fit to place you in a position most obscure, or to assign to you a service the most menial, not calculated to catch the eye or win the applause, but rather the oversight and the slight of your fellows, it would be one of the sweetest tests of the reality of your love to him. When Morrison, the Chinese missionary, the man of God who first gave the Bible to China in its vernacular, offered himself to the directors of the London Missionary Society as a missionary to the heathen, his appearance was so uncultivated and unpromising, that, hesitating to accept him as a candidate, they inquired if he were willing to go simply as an assistant in one of the missionary schools. "Gentlemen," was young Morrison's noble reply, "while the temple of Christ is building, I am willing to be a hewer of wood, or a drawer of water." In a moment they decided that a man who so much loved his Saviour, who was willing to undertake any service for Christ, was the fittest for the higher office of a missionary to the heathen. They accepted him as such, and the result proved that they were not mistaken in their judgment. If you love Christ, you will be willing to undertake any service your Lord and Master may appoint you. Love will make drudgery for Jesus, pleasant and welcome.—Octavius Winslow.