ON the coast of one of the Orkney Islands there is a dangerous rock that juts out into the sea, and on one dark night a fisherman’s boat was wrecked on that rock, and the body of the man washed ashore near his own cottage.
His daughter, a young girl, was filled with grief at the loss of her father, but after a time, when her sorrow was not quite so keen, she began to think of others on the sea, and in order that their boats might not get wrecked on that same rock, she used to light a candle every night and set it in the cottage window.
The fishermen using those waters soon got to know the cottage above the jutting rock and so could guide their boats to avoid the danger.
This was a labor of love on the part of the girl. She earned her living by a spinning wheel, and in order to pay for the candles burnt at night time, she spun an extra quantity of yarn to pay for them.
This she kept up for many years, and we know not how many lives may have been saved by that tiny light in the window, In this way she was able in some measure to turn her sorrow into joy, by thinking of others.
All Christians are able to do this; if they are relieved from their own troubles, they are then able to think of others. This is very acceptable in the sight of God, who desires that we should seek to bear one another’s burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ.
But we must not think that by doing good to others we shall fit ourselves for the presence of God, for it is only after we are saved that God can accept any service from us at all, but when we are His, then He is delighted that we should serve Him. Indeed, He says, “If any man serve Me, him will My Father honor.” John 12:2626If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honor. (John 12:26).
ML-06/02/1935