Self Surrender

 "As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine ; no more can ye, except ye abide in me."  John 15: 4.

Branches of The Vine.

       No individual becomes great by his own individuality; he only reaches greatness through the life of another. Why is the patriot distinguished? Because he abides in a larger life - the life of his country. Why is the philanthropist distinguished? Because he is a member of a larger body - the body of humanity. Why is the poet distinguished? Because he is part of a larger spirit - the spirit of nature. The truth is, every one of us only begins to live by the act of dying. The branch bears fruit because it loses itself in the tree. An individual man is glorious in proportion as he feels himself to be another. If a branch were conscious it would not say " I am a branch," but " I am a tree." If a subject of the Czar said to a subject of King Edward, ''Russia would beat England in war," the latter would feel sore. Why? Because he has identified his own life with the life of England; her triumph is his triumph, her defeat is his defeat; the branch claims to be the tree. So is it with the Christian. He makes Christ a personal matter - rejoices when He is honored, weeps when He is defamed. I saw a German professor crying like a child over prevailing infidelity. The world would have wondered; it would have said ''Nobody is hurting him!" He would not have admitted that; the branch felt itself to be the tree.

       My soul, hast thou realized the secret of thy greatness? It is not thine independence; it is thy surrender to another - to Christ - to universal Man. It is not even self-denial that will make thee great; what thou needest is not more privation but larger enjoyment. I hear thee speak of the forgetfulness of self. Yes, my soul; but the solemn question is, the manner of thy forgetting. How wouldst thou forget; shall it be by death or shall it be by life? Thou canst forget thyself by chloroform; but that is not greatness; it is the unconsciousness purchased by dying. But I know of an unconsciousness which is purchased by living - living in the life of another; it is the thing called love. The branch could forget itself by being withered; it prefers to forget itself by being in the vine. Get into the vine, my soul! Get into the life of another - the other! Feel thyself a member of His body! Identify thy interests with the interests of Him! Let there beat one pulse between thee and thy Lord! Let His grief be thy grief; let His joy be thy joy! Let thy prayer be the Lord's Prayer, His six golden wishes thy six golden desires in life! Let Him and thee join in prayer together - for the hallowed Name, for the coming Kingdom, for the accepted Will, for the nourishment of life, for the reign of mercy, for the end of sin! Thou shalt reach the sleep of God's beloved when thy forgetfulness of self shall be the remembrance of Jesus.