"I
was lately in company of one of our older ministers," said a young
minister the other day; "one who has laboured long and with much success
in some of the most difficult fields of the Church. The object of my
interview was to learn from him the secret of success with which it had
pleased God to crown his ministry in positions and places where others
had failed. Instead, however, of directly giving me the information I
desired, he told me with great sorrow the reason why he had accomplished
so little, and said with unaffected sadness, 'My young friend, the
mistake of my life has been that I have not prayed more. I fell into the
error of most ministers — I studied and preached. I worked and worried
too much, and I prayed too little. Could I live my life over again, I
would be more with God and less with men. I see it all now — what wasted
years of unrest I have passed, how much of my life was my own doing,
and how little of God has been in my active ministry! I can now, in the
evening of my days, only ask God to forgive my shortcomings, and to aid
me in spending my few remaining years differently from the imperfect way
in which I have served my Master."
No comments:
Post a Comment