Contents

Personal Contact with Jesus:  The Beginning of Service
The Triple Life:  The Perspective of Service
Yokefellows:  The Rhythm of Service
A Passion for Winning Men:  The Motive-power of Service
Deep-Sea Fishing:  The Ambition of Service
Money:  The Golden Channel of Service
Worry:  A Hindrance to Service
Gideon’s Band:  Sifted for Service

Personal Contact With Jesus:  The Beginning of Service.

    The Beginning of an Endless Friendship. 
    An Ideal Biography. 
    The Eyes of the Heart. 
    We are Changed. 
    The Outlook Changed. 
    Talking with Jesus. 
    Getting Somebody Else. 
    The True Source of Strong Service.

Personal Contact With Jesus:  The Beginning of Service.

(John i:35-51.)

The Beginning of an Endless Friendship.

About a quarter of four one afternoon, three young men were standing together on a road leading down to a swift-running river.  It was an old road, beaten down hard by thousands of feet through hundreds of years.  It led down to the river, and then along its bank through a village scatteringly nestled by the fords of the river.  The young men were intently absorbed in conversation.

One of them was a man to attract attention anywhere.  He was clearly the leader of the three.  His clothing was very plain, even to severeness.  His face was spare, suggesting a diet as severely plain as his garments.  The abundance of dark hair on head and face brought out sharply the spare, thoughtful, earnest look of his face.  His eyes glowed like coals of living fire beneath the thick, bushy eyebrows.  He talked quietly but intensely.  There was a subdued vigor and force about his very person.

One of the others was a very different type of man.  He was intense too, like the leader, but there was a fineness and a far-looking depth about his eye such as suggests a gray eye rather than a black.  His hair was softer and finer, and his skin too.  In him intensity seemed to blend with a fine grain in his whole make-up.  The third man was a quiet, matter-of-fact looking fellow.  He did not talk much, except to ask an occasional question.  The three men were engaged in earnest conversation, when a fourth man, a stranger, came down the road and, passing the three by, went on ahead.

The leader of the three called the attention of his companions to the stranger.  At once they leave his side and go after the stranger.  As they nearly catch up to him, he unexpectedly turns and in a kindly voice asks, “Whom are you looking for?” Taken aback by the unexpected question, they do not answer, but ask where he is going.  Quickly noticing the point of their question, he cordially says, “Come over and take tea with me.”