| The Joy of Service |
Chapter 14 |
Page 7 |
Young Christians may not be able yet to point to such insignia of their Christian life. The joy of youth is in their heart, the bound of youth is in their step, the hope of youth shines in their face, their strength is unwasted, and they have no scars from conflicts, hardships, or sorrows, to which to point as witnesses of their devotions to Christ. Their life is yet before them, their record is yet to make. But while they have not yet had the trying experiences which brand their imprints on the life, they may have true marks of Jesus in their faith, their obedience, their consecration, the fruits of the Spirit in them, and their earnest, holy living.
There is a legend of Francis of Assisi which says that in a holy rapture he once beheld the form of one crucified. When the vision had vanished, the saint bore in his hands and feet and side the imprints of the wounds of the Saviour. This is only a legend. But there is a spiritual sense in which, when we gaze long and adoringly upon the Master, the marks of His life are really imprinted upon us; not upon our hands and feet and side, in any merely physical branding of wounds upon our flesh, but in the putting upon our soul of the features of Christ’s own beauty. Instead of literal nail prints on our hands and feet, our hands bear the same love marks that were on the hands of Jesus; the become serving hands, giving hands, holy hands, hands of help and healing; and our feet become like Christ’s feet – swift to run on love’s errands and in the ways of God’s will. To bear the marks of Jesus is to have the spirit of the cross deep in our heart, animating all our life.
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