| The Joy of Service |
Chapter 1 |
Page 5 |
We can readily think of many sources in the joy of Christ. His fellowship with His Father was never broken, nor even most faintly shadowed for a moment. He was sinless; there was never in His heart the least trace of that sorrow which mars the sweetest human joy, the consciousness of having done evil. His perfect faith made all spiritual things eternal realities to Him, more real than the rocks and hills and trees and paths of earth. He never groped in the darkness of doubt and fear, as at times the holiest saints on earth must do when faith’s vision grows dim. He saw the ultimate meaning of all sorrow, and looked to the end and final harvest of all sacrifice and loss. He was never discouraged; He knew that His work would not fail. He had full confidence in the future of His ministry, and in the ultimate triumph of His kingdom.
Yet it is evident that the richest of all the sources of the joy of Christ was in His love and service. It was the joy of doing good, of giving comfort, of saving the lost that meant the most to Him. The travail of His soul was forgotten in the knowledge that a world would be redeemed by His blood.
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