The heart of consecration

Many of us have our little pet projects in Christian work, our pleasant pastimes of service for our Master, things we like to do. Into these we enter with enthusiasm.

They are to our mind. We give ourselves to them eagerly and with ardor. We suppose that we are thoroughly consecrated to Christ's work, because we are so willing to do these things.

Possibly we are — but there is a truer test. It is not whether we are ready to do things for Christ which we like to do — but whether we are ready to do just as heartily anything He may give us to do.

The heart of consecration is not devotion to this or that kind of service for Christ — but devotion to His will, whatever it may be. It may not be any form of activity; sometimes it is quiet waiting. It is not . . .

bringing a great many souls to Christ,

visiting a great many sick or suffering ones,

attending a great many religious meetings,

or talking a great deal about religion.

Some weary one, shut away in the darkness, in the chamber of pain, may be illustrating true consecration far more beautifully than those whose hands are fullest of Christian activities in the bustling world. Consecration is devotion to the will of Christ.

It is readiness to do not what we want to do in His service — but what He gives us to do. When we reach this state, we shall not need to wait long to find our work.

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