Individuality, and Its Opposite

it is a very delightful thing to feel that all the work we are doing is Jesus Christ’s work. All the sheep we have to shepherd are His sheep; the souls we have to bring to Him were bought with His blood; the spiritual house that is to be built is for His habitation. It is all His. I delight in working for my Lord and Master, because I feel a blessed community of interest with Him. That is not my Sunday-school, it is my Lord’s; and He says, “Feed My lambs.” It is not my church, but His; and He cries, “Feed My sheep.” Mine are His, and His are mine; yea, all are His. In the days when servants used to be servants, and were attached to their masters, one of our nobility had with him an old butler who had lived with his father, and was getting grey. The nobleman was often much amused with the way in which the good old man considered everything that was his master’s to be his own. I was not only pleased with the story, but it touched my heart when I heard it. His lordship once said to him, “John, whose waggon is that which has just come up loaded with goods?” “Oh!” said he, “that is ours. Those are goods from our town house.” His lordship smiled, and as a carriage came up the drive, he said, “John, whose coach is that coming into the park?” “Oh!” said he, “that is our carriage.” “But,” said the master, “there are some children in it, John; are they our children?” “Yes, my lord, they are our children, bless them, I will run, and bring them in.” My Lord Jesus, how dare I have the impertinence to claim anything which is Thine? And yet, when I gaze upon Thy Church, I am so completely Thy servant, and so wholly absorbed in Thee, that I look upon it as mine as well as Thine, and I go to wait upon Thy beloved ones. Yea, Lord, and all these my brethren are going, too. Come with us, Lord, for Thy love’s sake!