What have I done for Christ?



A lady was teaching a class of ten bright boys in the Sabbath-school. They were attentive and thoughtful; but none were Christians. The lesson was, "Showing our love for Christ." At its close the teacher asked her scholars one by one if they had done one single thing for Christ during the week. As she questioned each, some   answered sadly, "No," and others shook their heads in silence.

"Not one deed for Christ!" said the teacher; and she looked sadly at the solemn, earnest faces.

A thoughtful boy of thirteen at her side sat a while in silence. Perhaps he was thinking, "I wonder whether one really loves Christ if one tries to please him." 

Suddenly he turned his expressive eyes upon the teacher, and said, respectfully but earnestly, "Miss M, have you done anything for Christ?" The question was unexpected. Emotion crimsoned her cheek, and brought tears to her eyes. At length she controlled herself, and said in broken accents, "I hope so, John; but I know I have not done what I ought to or might have done for him."

The question followed the teacher home. In her closet, upon her bed, she saw that inquiring gaze, and heard that earnest question, "Have you done anything for Christ?" 

It seemed as if Christ himself had asked her, 

"What have you done for me?"  Each day a voice repeated the question; and each Sabbath, as she came before her class, an echo came, "What have you done this week for Christ?"

-------------------------------


WHAT HAVE I DONE FOR CHRIST?


"I gave my life for thee, What hast thou done for Me?"

IN view of the great sacrifice, which Christ has made in the redemption of fallen humanity, we do well to ask ourselves often, "What have I done for Christ?" What greater blessings could be bestowed upon the human family than their purchase from eternal death and their presentation with the glories of the future inheritance? 

Christ has made this bountiful provision for all who will accept him fully and joyfully.

Dear reader, we can in no way better manifest our love and gratitude for these heavenly benefits than by consecrating our lives to the service of God, showing by our daily walk that Christ is the chiefest, and the one altogether lovely. The same spirit of meekness, of humility, of sacrifice, of labor and of love, must characterize our lives; yes, to meet his approbation, we must reflect fully his holy image in all things.

"What have I done for Christ?" A record is kept of all that we do in his service; and, too, a record is kept of all the duties left undone. How shall we meet them in the Judgment?

What are we doing for Christ? Are we gathering with him, winning sheaves for the heavenly garner? Let us each and all seek a new conversion, and become so imbued with the spirit of the Master that we may have the same power to win as did a certain good missionary, as testified by a Brahmin who felt his influence. Said this heathen, "I am afraid to see that man. There is something so winning about him that if I were to be much with him, I am sure I should be a Christian." Let us, too, be so thoroughly educated in the school of Christ that we may exert the same Christianizing spirit and power, and thus be able to fill the Record with deeds, which shall endure the test of the Judgment.




M. J. C.