The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1905, Page 82

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82

The Lutheran Pioneer.

with suffering! It is but for a little while. ‘‘For
yet a little while, and He that shall come will come,
and will not tarry.”

«CA little while’—’twill soon be past!
Why should we shun the shame and cross?
Oh! let us in His footsteps haste,
Counting for Him all else but loss.
Oh! how will recompense His smile
The sufferings of this ‘little while.’”’

‘CA little while.”’ What a loud call to work for
Christ and His kingdom! ‘‘Preach the Gospel to
every creature.’’ That was Christ’s last commission
to His Church. The Gospel ‘‘shall be preached in
all the world for a witness unto all nations; and
then shall the end come.’’ To the Church the Gos-
pel is given. It is the Church that preaches the
Gospel in all the world, and every member of the
Church, every Christian, must be a helper in this
mission work. The time is short, and the devil is
very active in destroying the souls of men, ‘‘having
great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but
a short time,’’ Rev. 12,12. How much more active
should Christians be in the winning of souls for
Christ and His kingdom! ‘‘A little while!’’ This
call to work grows louder and louder as the days
pass by and the coming of Christ draws nearer. ‘‘A
little while, and He that shall come will come, and
will not tarry.’’ Let us, then, make good use of
the “‘little while’’ in the Master’s service, becoming
more and more zealous in our mission work.

‘Work, for the day is coming

When Jesus shall return:

At the thought of His appearing
Our hearts within us burn;

For we shall see His beauty,
And share His loving smile,

Then let us not grow weary,
*Tis but ‘a little while.’

“Work, for the day is coming;
Work, children of the light;
See thousands round you lying
In sin and darkest night.
Up! rouse them from their slumber!
Tell them there yet is room,
That Jesus still is waiting,
And longs to see them come.”’

—________+-+-2_____

Count Your Blessings.

If we would count the many blessings God be-
stows upon us, we would find much to be thankful
for, not only on Thanksgiving Day, but on all the
days of our life. There are too many that do not
count the blessings they themselves enjoy, but look

at the good things which others have. This makes
them discontented and unthankful. Said old Uncle
Silas to his complaining wife: ‘‘When we begin to
look at the things our neighbors have and we haven’t,
we always pick out just the things we want. They
live in a nice house, we say, and we have only a little
one. They have money, and we need to count every.
penny. They have an easy time, and we have to
work, We never say: ‘They have the typhoid fever,
but it did not come near us. They have a son in the
insane asylum, but our brains are sound. Stagger-
ing feet go into their grand door, but nothing worse
than tired ones come home to ours at night.’ Count
your blessings, my dear, and be thankful.”’

Saadi, the Persian poet, as quoted by Luther,
says that he never complained of his condition but
once, and that was when his feet were bare, and he
had no money to buy shoes; but meeting with a
man without feet, he instantly became contented
with his lot and thankful for the blessings and mer-
cies he was enjoying. No matter what our condition
is, we shall find many reasons for thanksgiving, if
we only count our blessings.

The late Pastor Krummacher, of Elberfeld, Ger-
many, in making the rounds of his visits to the sick
of his congregation, came across one of’ his parish-
ioners who had been unwell for some time, and who
complained bitterly of the heavy cross he had to
bear in being confined for such a long time in his
bed, and thought God was dealing harshly with
him.

After listening patiently for some time to his
lamentations, Krummacher cut him short by say-

-ing: ‘‘I will pray for you,’’ and, suiting the action

to the word, said: ‘‘Dear heavenly Father, Thou
knowest how many poor sufferers are lying upon
miserable beds of straw and rags, and have no one
to care for them, or furnish them medicines to mit-
igate their sufferings which in many instances are
of the most distressing kind, whilst I lie on a good,
comfortable bed, am carefully attended by my own
kin, and treated by a skillful physician; nor do I
suffer any notable pain. Thou hast had patience
with me, a murmuring Jonah, till now’’—

**Hold on! hold on!’’ cried the murmurer ex-
citedly ; ‘‘I promise you, dear pastor, never to mur-
mur or complain again.’? Whether he kept his
promise or not is not known, but it is probable that
the murmuring spirit was driven out for some time.

There are murmuring Jonahs, even among Chris-
tians, who might be cured and made thankful by
counting their blessings.

‘‘Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all
His benefits,’’ Ps. 103, 2.