"Lovest thou me?" the Master asks of each disciple. He expects our first and highest love for Himself, personally, and He has a right to it. More than all our service, more than all our work to build up a cause, He desires our personal devotion to Him. Mary's gift was precious because it was personal. Ye have the poor with you always; but me ye have not always (Mark 14:7), was His tender suggestion of a danger which defeats His purpose-our being more occupied with the work of Christ than with Christ Himself. We need the love of Christ in order to fit us for His work. Nothing else will give it its true aim and center; nothing else will sustain us amid its pressures. When Jesus was about to send Simon to take care of His flock, He did not ask Him, "Lovest thou my sheep and my lambs?" He asked, "Lovest thou me?" Mere love for people will not enable us to be true to them; but love for Christ will give us a reflected love for others that will enable us to touch them for Him and to bless them as our direct touch never could.
