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THE WAY TO BEGIN

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Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Tuesday, April 28, 1885

FromThe Review and Herald, Vol. 62, No. 17

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THE WAY TO BEGIN.

By Dudley Marvin Canright

My brother or sister, are you dreaming of doing some great work for God and the cause at some future time? That is well. Such desires are good, and are to be cherished; but if you are ever to do any great work, don’t forget that you must first gather up the strength and experience necessary for such a work. How is this to be done? In one way and only one way; viz., by faithfully doing little things first, anything and everything that comes to hand. See what the Lord told Moses when he sent him to do the great work of delivering a whole nation from bondage. Moses was trembling, not knowing how to begin. “The Lord said unto him, What is that in thine hand?” Moses had a stick, such as you could cut in the woods any day. God said, Take that and go, and use it as I will tell thee.
If the Lord says to go—“what is that in thine hand?” Take that; begin to labor for that little sister, that unconverted brother, that backslidden friend, your nearest neighbor, that school-mate, the Sabbath-school, the missions,—anywhere that you can accomplish good. Doing thus, you will gain experience and boldness and strength for greater work.
On this point Bishop Simpson, in his “Lectures on Preaching,” p. 55, says:—
“If, then, a young man feels himself called to the ministry by a divine persuasion, what shall he do? I answer, Let him read and prepare himself thoroughly for the work of the ministry. Let him work in his sphere for his Master’s cause. If he be a student, let him seek to influence his unconverted associates. If he be at home, let him lead his brothers and sisters, or most intimate friends, to Christ. If he find a Nathanael to whom his soul is joined, let him, like Philip, tell him of Jesus, and say, ‘Come and see.’ Let him not fancy that he will one day have great power in addressing multitudes, but that it is not his work to labor with individuals. This fancy of some day doing great things, is a fearful illusion. To do great things, we must learn to do little things well. No man is fit to be the commanding general of an army, who has not himself been drilled as a soldier. No man can win great power as a minister, until he has first met a brother’s objections, solved a brother’s difficulties, learned a brother’s temptations, and witnessed how the word of God has delivered a brother’s soul. Congregations are made up of individuals. Man by man, heart by heart, is the conquest won; and the young man is best preparing for the ministry who learns how to deal with individual cases of sin and sorrow, of guilt and despondence.”
Little things to begin with, one at a time, and the nearest first, should be the motto of the young Christian. D. M. CANRIGHT.