In Luke 1, we read of a little meeting Mary and Elisabeth had together. Verse 43, “And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” Mary said this, speaking about what the Lord had done for her. Verse 48, “For He hath regarded the low estate of His handmaiden; for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.”
A little boy’s school report said underneath the marks, “A good pupil always ready to contribute to the school’s activities, always adding something.” It is a wonderful thing to have a part in this worldwide family. I feel at home among you. I feel you are my family. What are we contributing to this family? There are the little meetings we go to and this was a little meeting between just two ladies. Sometimes there are many people in a meeting, sometimes just two. What was Elisabeth contributing? It was that lovely attitude in lowliness, regarding her sister Mary, better than herself. It tells us to do that, “in lowliness of mind,” in every meeting we go to, to regard our brethren as better than ourselves. “The Lord has regarded the low estate of His handmaiden.” Those two lovely qualities make us an asset in the meeting.
In John 13, we get a lovely picture of the Master and the example He gives, in what way to contribute to the little meeting. Contribute the spirit of service, the spirit of humility and the spirit of “I care”: “I care about the welfare of my brethren, I care that they will make the distance, they will go onward.” It is lovely to consider in every meeting, we are considering the walk of our brethren and we have something that will encourage them onward and upward.
Our relationship with God is the most important relationship of all. It is something we need to foster every day. What am I contributing to this relationship? In every relationship, you have to work at it. Our relationship together as companions, our communication, is what fosters cooperation, courtesy and constancy and that is what we have to practise in every relationship.
It is like marriage, companionship. That is what I should be contributing to my relationship with God. First of all, communication. That means alone with God, pouring out my soul to Him. He knows about it, but He wants to hear from us.
We can come into the Holiest of all boldly, come with free utterance. We can go to God and pour out our heart. Nobody else knows about it. There is the other side, you have to wait there because He wants to say something. Sometimes He doesn’t say anything, but sometimes He does.
Don’t you feel a wonderful joy when you get a little whisper from God to you. Do you know what it fosters? Cooperation and understanding, working together. “My Father worketh hitherto and I work.” In our own relationship, it should be working together with our God. Courtesy is showing great respect and we have to keep a great, great respect for our God and His Son and His Word. Don’t ever treat it lightly. Constancy, not doing it one day and not the next; it is a daily battle.What may I contribute to the battle? We are all in the battle. We are all fighting the same thing: world, flesh, and devil. Resist the world and all its treasure and the pleasures and the entertainment of it. Resist Satan with all his deceit. He says things like, “It will be alright, you don’t need to obey God.” He told that to Eve and he will be doing the same to us. Our Master resisted the temptation Satan gave to Him, said “No” to everything.
Paul, at the end of the journey said in II Timothy 4:7, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.” He also said in I Corinthians 9:27, “I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection…” It is a daily thing and a big battle. If I am not contributing that resistance, I am letting influences into the family that should not be there.
Individual victory has a great deal to do with unity. We are adding to the unity of the family if we are getting victory. Little adverse times come along, little troubles, some little thing that comes up. What am I contributing in times like that? Abram and Lot had a little bit of trouble, not between them, but their herdsmen.
I love what Abram contributed to that problem: the spirit of meekness. Meekness is self-effacement, contributing to that little scene. He could have said, “I am the uncle, older, it’s my right to have the first choice,” but he didn’t put self forward. He Just told Lot, “You choose what you want and I will choose something else.” He could have stirred up the problem, but he defused it and it became no problem.
What are we to contribute to the outside world? There are certain things we cannot ever contribute. There are two things our Master told us to contribute: Matthew 5:13-16, “Ye are the light of the world and the salt of the earth.” Whatever company you are in, you show light and you show savour. Christ is our light, “the light of men.” Whatever company you are in, you show the qualities of Christ, you show the savour of Christ. It is so easy to leave a human savour.
A young couple were going together, not serving God, but the young lady had met the mother of the young man. He had been brought up with his mother serving God. The young lady had met the mother, a passing thing and she said to the young man, “There is something different about your mother.” She mentioned it a few times until he got angry and said, “If you really want to know, my mother has God in her life.” She said, “Could I have God in my life? How could I?” He said, “There are some meetings you could go to for about three months.” She came to meetings and embraced Christ and she is going on, very happily until the present time. That mother, what did she do? In that little time with a worldly person, she showed the light and savour of Christ.
I would like to be contributing what I should be contributing. It is a wonderful privilege to have a part in this family, but we would like to be contributing and we should be.