He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied. Isa. 53:11.

"Satisfaction guaranteed." In advertising the sale of all manner of goods and articles, this is often promised to us. But in the Bible satisfaction is not from possessions, but from sacrificial service. The prophet Isaiah speaks of the coming Messiah and of the eternal satisfaction that will come with the harvest of souls as a result of His life of service and sacrifice.

Christ "made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant . . . : he humbled himself, . . . even [to] the death of the cross" (Phil. 2:7, 8). How could Jesus Christ, a member of the Godhead, do this?" How could He accept this humiliation and still preserve a sense of personal significance as God? Because His children mattered more to Him than anything else.

Every time we identify ourselves with others in order to help them and lead them to Christ, there is lasting satisfaction. The happy people are those not occupied with themselves, but those who live lives of unselfish service. We are made to love others. God has no plan to get us to heaven that ignores our relationship to other people. We can have too much money to be good for us. We can multiply riches and possessions on earth. After a while we get surfeited with them. But we can never give too much love to others. We can never have too much of the fruit of the Spirit—love, joy, peace—to shed abroad.

In the Bible God's children are called "servants." This involves a willingness to forsake privilege and status, to renounce position, never to rest satisfied until men and women are won back to God. Because Christ came down, we must come down. Every time we claim special privilege and recognition in order to gain self-importance we are in bondage to ourselves. If we fail to embrace others within Christ's love for us and our love for Him, then He has lived and died for us in vain.

When we view the truths we have in and of themselves, they are very impressive. But God judges nothing by itself, only in the use we make of it. In the last analysis, the central purpose of the church is to share the redeeming love of Christ with those around us. How vast is the worth of a soul before God