No proper servant remains with his master solely for the wages involved. If
he realizes that he is of no use, he would rather leave and be poor. And
no
proper maid will stay just because of the pay. She wants to be of service.
If there is nothing more to do, she is unhappy; even if she is paid, she
no
longer exists as a maid does. And man, in the midst of creation, has the
feeling that he is here for a purpose—not just for himself but for
something else, something greater, something which has been lost.
Nevertheless, today people sit in the churches thinking mostly about
themselves. Everyone sighs over himself, looks for something in himself
and
for himself—and doesn’t himself know what it is. One would like to call
out
to them all: “People, forget yourselves! Think of God’s cause. Start to
do
something for it. Don’t be sorry for yourself; or at least be sorry that
you have nothing to do but worry about your own petty concerns.”
Our greatest lack is that we are of no use to the Lord; no wonder, then,
that we go to ruin in spite of all our culture. Any person degenerates,
even in a physical sense, if he is not acting as part of a body that has a
higher purpose. But those who, in love and enthusiasm, work for something
greater than themselves prosper, even regarding their physical well being.
And the race declines in its very life-values, both physical and
spiritual,
if, as people, there is nothing we are producing for the life of the
earth,
for creation, for God.
--
- Christoph Friedrich Blumhardt
www.blumhardts.com
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