. You say that you want to be like
Christ, by J. R. Miller. The art of photography
is now so advanced that a whole page of a newspaper can be taken
in miniature so small as to be carried on a little button, and
yet every letter and point be perfect. Just so, the whole life
of Christ is photographed in this one little phrase. The Son
of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His
life as a ransom for many. Matthew 20, 28 He did not come
to be served. If this had been His aim, He
would never have left heaven's glory, where He lacked nothing,
where angels praised Him and ministered unto Him. He came
to serve. He went about doing good. He
altogether forgot himself. He served all he met who would
receive his service. At last, he gave his life in
serving. He gave it to save others, to
redeem lost souls. You say that you want to be like
Christ. You ask Him to print His own
image on your heart. Here then is the image. The Son
of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His
life as a ransom for many. It is not a vague dream of human
greatness which we are to think of when we ask to be like our
Master. The old monks thought that they
were becoming like Christ when they went into the wilderness
away from men to live in cold cells. But surely, such a dream
of uselessness is not the thought which this picture suggests.
To serve, to give our life, that is the Christ-like thing. Instead
of fleeing away from people, we are to live with others, to
serve them, to live for them, to seek to bless them, to do
them good, to give our lives for them. That is the meaning
of the prayer for Christlikeness.