a torchlight and a noise,
The sudden Roman faces, violent hands,
And fear of what the Jews might do,
had been too much for the disciple’s courage and the friend’s devotion.
And it is written, I forsook and fled:
That was my trial, and it ended thus.
But St. John had returned. There he is, in his true place, beside his Master and Friend.
We too have forsaken, sometimes denied, the same Master and Friend. We too with true repentance have returned, and are struggling to take up the old allegiance. What is the proof, where is the assurance for which we long more, perhaps, than for anything else in the world, that our repentance has been accepted, that we are once more in the number of those whom He calls His friends?
There is one decisive test. Upon all His friends He lays some task. If we have anything to do for Jesus Christ, then we may assure our hearts. Our desertion has been forgiven. He has spoken to us the words of peace, “Behold thy mother, thy brother, thy son.” For, let us not forget, all work for others, for the bodies, the minds, the souls of our brethren
in the family of God, is capable of being raised from the level of professional drudgery, and of becoming the direct service of Jesus Christ.
To work for Christ is the real foretaste of heaven, far removed from the sensuous imagery of some modern hymns. “Be thou ruler,” there is the supreme reward, “over ten cities.”
If we are doing any work for Christ, i.e. for others for Christ’s sake, and as part of our service to Him, willingly and cheerfully, then we have the final and convincing proof that we are indeed forgiven, that the offer of renewed allegiance has been accepted, that we have been restored to His Friendship.