Laid on God’s Altar by J.R. Miller

“I cannot be of any use,” says one. “I cannot talk in meetings. I cannot pray in public. I have no gift for visiting the sick. There is nothing I can do for Christ.”

Well, if Christian service were all talking and praying in meetings, and visiting the sick, it would be discouraging to such talentless people. But are our tongues the only faculties we can use for Christ? There are ways in which even silent people can belong to God and be a blessing in the world. A star does not talk, but its calm, steady beam shines down continually out of the sky, and is a benediction to many. A flower cannot sing bird-songs, but its sweet beauty and gentle fragrance make it a blessing wherever it is seen. Be like a star in your peaceful shining, and many will thank God for your life. Be like the flower in your pure beauty and in the influence of your unselfish spirit, and you may do more to bless the world than many who talk incessantly. The living sacrifice does not always mean active work. It may mean the patient endurance of a wrong, the quiet bearing of a pain, cheerful acquiescence in a disappointment.

~ J.R. Miller (1840 – 1912)

True Consecration by J.R. Miller

“It is the Lord’s will. Let Him do what He thinks best.”
– 1 Samuel 3:18

The heart of consecration is not devotion to this or that kind of service for Christ–but devotion to the Divine will, whatever God may ordain. It may not be any form of activity–sometimes it is quiet waiting. Consecration is not bringing a great many souls to Christ, attending a great many religious meetings, or teaching or preaching.

Some weary one, shut away in the darkness in the chamber of pain, may be illustrating true consecration far more beautifully than those whose hands are fullest of Christian activities in the bustling world.

Consecration is devotion to the will of God. It is readiness to do, not what we want to do in His service–but what He gives us to do.

“Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away! Blessed be the name of the LORD!” – Job 1:21

“Father, if You are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from Me.
 Nevertheless, I want Your will to be done, not Mine!” – Luke 22:42

~ J.R. Miller (1840 – 1912)