Life is one of the greatest words in the New Testament. Christ is reported in the four Gospels as using it more than seventy times. Paul used it fifty-two times, Luke twenty-seven, and John more than seventy. All these evidently loved the word. Life, eternal life, is what the believer has, and which the unsaved have not. No matter how great a man is in this world, or how wealthy, or learned, if he has not the life that Christ gives, the life which is the gift of God, he has nothing but an opportunity to obtain it. So no matter how poor, weak, ignorant, or despised any one is, if he has life in Christ he is safe, saved, blessed for eternity.

Life means joy, peace, every blessing that man can possess-that is the life in Christ, the life that is God's gift. The one having this life may suffer much; in the world he has tribulation and chastening because of this new and blessed life; for Satan and all the powers of darkness hate those possessing this wonderful gift. They cannot have it. In this the poorest and weakest human being is vastly superior to any and all the powers of darkness. To be a human being and have the opportunity of obtaining life, places a man vastly above any evil spirit or power of darkness. Life, light, and salvation are in the reach of any human being who is not guilty of an eternal sin, and so long as he is on the earth; but no demon, no evil spirit of any kind or degree, has the least hope of privilege of life or salvation.

Life is the gift of God. Existence is that. But eternal life, which is the life that comes through Christ, is far more than existence. If we read 1 Tim. 6:19, "That they may lay hold of that which is really life," we get the idea. Unbelief will not have it that there is another life distinct from existence, but this is a doctrine of darkness. If men's minds can be kept from thinking there is another life, eternal life, they will not look for it, will not obtain it, but will share the eternal abode of Satan and his angels. How men hate the truth that would set them free from death, deliver them from the power of Satan, and make them eternally happy with Christ!

"Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors. For whoso findeth me findeth life, and shall obtain favor of the Lord. But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul; all they that hate me love death" (Prov. 8:34-36). "The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord" (Rom. 6:23). Those who have not this life need to be stirred up to "lay hold on eternal life;" those who have it need to be exhorted to prize it, to enjoy it to the full, to live daily in the power of it. Note, reader, that this life is obtained by receiving a Person, believing in Him, trusting Him, giving ourselves to Him, yielding ourselves into His hands to be saved, kept, blessed.

Then, when we have this life, we are to walk with this blessed Person daily and steadily, loving Him, trusting Him, rejoicing in Him. It is wonderful that we can begin every day of our life here communing with this glorious Person, living in Him, and by Him, rejoicing in Him, praising Him, thanking Him, asking Him for whatever we need. Doing this is "really life." The weariness of existence is gone for ever. The heart-hunger is satisfied. There is a peace dwelling within of which
nothing can rob us.

But there are storms, testings, chastenings, corrections, instruction in righteousness. There are sorrows, losses, tribulations, just as Christ said there would be. "In the world ye shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world" (John 16:33).He who spoke those words spoke eternal truth. He had overcome the world. A few moments afterwards He said, "I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do [hast given Me]" (John 17:4). God saw the work done. He calls "those things which be not, as though they were" (Rom. 4:17). The world had not caused Christ to swerve one hair's breadth from doing the will of God; His power is for our path through the world; we can always and ever "take courage" from Christ's presence. Many possessors of life in Christ have had their eyes so opened, the "eyes of their hearts," that they see Christ with them in every trial, danger, temptation, and need.

We know His Spirit dwells within us. We know that He .meets every need. Have we failed in any way? Have we been unfaithful?1 John 1:9 and 2:1 tell us what to do. Any one who has life can lift up the heart to Christ in any place, at any time. He hears, He sees the need, He can meet it. There will surely be tribulation, there will be chastening. Why? Because in no other way can we learn the lessons He sees we need. He takes sinners, saves them, but they need teaching, training. They have life, but where there is life there is growth. He will have us learn His power to provide, but if there were no need He could make no provision for need. He teaches us to trust in Him. "Taught of God!" The daily living is daily learning, and what a difference it makes when we are conscious of walking with Him! We are learning what it is to live out the life God has given us.

It is important to notice that the Lord called these men to Himself. It was His call that caused them to forsake that which had engaged them, that they "might be with Him." It was to be in His company, to sit at His feet, to hear His words, and also to share in His work among men, to which they were called. They did not first of all choose this; it was His choice for them. It was His call; and in obedience, they rose up and followed Him. There was faith in Him on their part which recognized the heavenly Voice with which He spoke. It commanded their immediate acceptance. Had there been hesitancy it would have revealed their unfitness for that to which they were called. But the Lord knew His men, for He had already implanted the seed of faith in their souls. They had listened to the testimony of John, the Lord's fore-runner, and believed that testimony, and so were "prepared" for the Lord. When He called, they obeyed and followed HIM.

These men were not yet apostles. First they were disciples, that is, learners, students of their incomparable Master. They did not study books, although there was one Book which they had known from childhood, and it was their familiarity with its sayings which enabled them to recognize in John's teaching the authority of Heaven. By the same Scriptures they knew that Jesus was from God; for they found in Him the exact fulfilment of Him that was to come, as the Scriptures had foretold.

Aside from the Old Testament Scriptures, these disciples had no other writings. But they had what was infinitely greater. They had the Lord Himself. The Lord of glory was here in their very midst, and He had confined Himself to their nation, choosing His ancient people Israel as His temple, that from them the glory of His grace and truth might shine out .to the nations of the earth, lighting them up with its bright rays, dispelling darkness and sin throughout the earth.

Yet it is most significant that coming to Israel, the Lord did not choose as His followers those who were the recognized leaders and teachers of the nation. Indeed, He seems to have passed by Judea, with its great temple, and all else which man esteemed so highly. Having Himself become poor, He chose some from the poor of the flock to feed and to shepherd His sheep. And if it stirred to envy the Pharisees and the scribes that Jesus did not identify Himself and His ministry with Judea but rather with despised Galilee "of the Gentiles," it bore witness too that in all they counted worthy He saw nothing which bore the image of His Father.

We see the Lord's grace in the fact that He called those illiterate and humble men to be associated with Him in dispensing His heavenly bounties. Not that those who were regarded as the great ones among men could have added any luster to such a position; for it is not what man is able to attain to by human effort, nor any place which his fellows can afford him, be it ever so honorable in the eyes of men, that can make him truly great. It is ever and always according to the divine mind that, "He that humbleth himself shall be exalted, but he that exalteth himself shall be abased." And in the Judaism of His day, the Lord found abundant growth of pride and its many evil accompaniments; but nothing of the lowliness and humility which became a people to whom so much had been committed, and who had yielded so little of the precious fruit of the Spirit.

But the Lord's grace is seen in this rather, that while He needed not any help of man, it pleased Him to link men with Him in His ministry to man. He called these fishermen, tax-collectors, and others around Himself, that they might get to know Him, and thus to train them in His inimitable manner for that to which He was about to commission them. How wonderful that the Lord of all creation, abundantly sufficient to care for any and all need, however great it might be, should yet lay hold upon these few despised Galileans, that through them, and others like them, He might dispense His grace and truth to a needy world!

It is to be noted that Peter, James, John and Andrew, were pursuing their daily occupation when called by the Lord. He saw them as they went forth to their work, and how with purpose of heart they entered upon their humble calling. They were not ambitiously minded, as if restless for something higher in the estimation of this world, and as engaged in their work only through force of circumstances. It was rather that they regarded their fishing and all that belonged to it as part of their lives, to be lived before the eye of God who had set them in their lowly place. How different this from so much which is seen today in men and women eager to be seen and heard by their fellows, and forcing themselves to the front, that they might, perchance, be "highly esteemed among men."

We would not wish to be thought of as seeking to discourage any, even the most humble, who might consider that the Lord was calling him to something other than that to which circumstances here have placed him. But it is one thing to have even a right desire, and quite another to have the Lord call one to a field of labor other than that which his hands have found to do. If I choose for myself, even though my choice be a noble one, it is far short of waiting for the Lord to choose for me how and what He would have me do for Him. May it not be that many of the self-chosen ones are responsible for the mischief which has come upon the testimony of our Lord in this day? If I intrude myself into a path for which the Lord, has not fitted or called me, what can follow but disaster, for myself and for those with whom I come in contact?

If my wish is to attain to a public place, where I may be seen and heard, that is a most unworthy desire, one sure to result in dishonor to Christ, distress to my brethren, and great harm to myself. Indeed, the very desire shows a state of soul far from God. Though I might long to serve the Lord in some particular sphere, unless He has fitted and called me to that place, I must rebel against Him if I follow out my own wish in regard to it. Certainly the Head of the Body knows what place He has assigned me in which to serve His members. I need have no fear that He has left me without service of some kind. There is no member but what is needful to the Body, and, we may add also, to the Head. The members of Christ are said to be His "fulness." He in His infinite grace, has taken that place in regard to His people during this present time, in which they are so related to Himself that they are necessary to fill and satisfy His heart. And while He can have no need or insufficiency in Himself, yet, since His members are part of Himself, as much as the hand is part of the body, we are therefore ministering to Himself when we minister to the least of His own. We are helping to fill up the lack which might exist in the Body of Christ, when we serve Christ in that place for which He has called and fitted us. The disciples called by the Lord were first of all attracted to Himself. He it was who filled their eyes and heart. We read of the two disciples who heard John musing of the Lord as the "Lamb of God," that they "heard him speak, and they followed Jesus." That was true ministry on the part of this truly great servant. His own soul was filled with the glory of the One who was both the "Son" and the "Lamb" of God. His blessed Person and His sacrificial work were the burden of John's tongue. John was carried completely outside of himself as he saw and meditated upon Jesus! And not only were his own heart and soul filled with joy and wonder at the sight of Heaven's delight; his mention of it caught the ears of his two disciples, and they now became attracted to Jesus. They followed Him.

But they followed Him to worship and adore. It was not service here, which would have been as much out of place as it was later when Peter talked of making tabernacles. How often perhaps have we intruded our service before the eyes and ears of men, when we should have been at His feet in adoring worship! We may be sure that the sight of saints worshiping the Lord, pouring out their hearts before Him in contemplation of His infinite sacrifice and love, has far more effect upon men's hearts than the busiest service in which we might engage. It is not that service is to be despised. No; for true worship must ultimately lead the soul engaging in it to serve Him. But we should never allow our work, even for Him, to so engross our minds as to cause us to lose sight of Himself.

Those therefore whom the Lord called to publicly witness for Him were men whom He had fitted for that place. As we have seen, they were first of all filled with His glory, attracted to Himself. Whatever their own defects-and they were many-they had begun to see in Jesus the very effulgence of GOD. And as they went about daily in their ordinary calling, pursuing it with that purpose which showed that their hearts were lifted above seeking a name or place for themselves among men, they heard and responded to the Voice which said to them:"Come ye after Me, and I will make you to be fishers of men."

Brethren, let us imitate these men of God. Let us have Christ so before the eyes of our soul as to carry us away and beyond the many unworthy and low ambitions which take hold of hearts which walk at a distance from Christ. Remember, it is not what we profess but what we possess which is of value. If we make a loud profession of being His servants, and have but little of His goods in our possession, what is it worth? Let us be willing and glad to undertake whatever service He has entrusted to us, however lowly or unnoticed it may be. Let us not count a place before men as of value, but find our joy in serving Christ, even if no one sees us but Himself. And if He has called us to a public sphere, let us above all seek to glorify Him in bearing His marks before men. It is not among our credentials to be marked by a spirit of strife, spreading discord among brethren, but rather, seeking to draw the hearts of the saints to Himself and thus to one another. And if, by any chance, we have chosen the path we are in for ourselves, apart from His guidance and choice, let us have grace to confess it to Him, and seek His face that we might henceforth fill only that path to which He has appointed us. Wm. Huss