If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed.—Jesus.
BELOW rolled the restless ocean; in the measureless heights above gems vibrated in the silent and unbroken harmony of law, and a persistent unscented freshness was in the atmosphere. All day a bird of passage had been flying with easy rapidity, and as evening wore on to midnight, duty found it still beating its winged rhythm. No sail, no mast had appeared above the horizon to traverse the leagueless sea and offer a resting-place for the little traveler, whose unerring directness and continuous beat of wing testified to an unvarying purpose to reach its goal, a picture of which filled the gallery of its sense with the sunshine and color of tropical brilliancy. The tireless energy which ignored time and the limits of a birdling's strength, bespoke continuity and steadfastness of effort. On the earth which it had left behind and beneath, men heavy of limb and vague of purpose still lumbered their weary way among fields and factories, gathering into storehouses, building larger barns, and laying up treasures where moth and rust doth corrupt.
Walking by the sea of Galilee, Jesus "saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. And they straightway left their nets, and followed him." At a later date Jesus saith unto them, "But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." After the crucifixion these and the other disciples had the glorious privilege of seeing Jesus "risen from the dead;" and yet, notwithstanding all this, they found their time so empty, their hands so idle, that "Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing. They say unto him. We also go with thee. They went forth, and entered into a ship immediately; and that night they caught nothing."
