These thoughts filled him with distress, and caused him to shed many bitter tears.

One day a Christian friend, who was visiting him, gave him a book and requested him to read it.  He did so; and it led to his becoming a Christian.  His heart was renewed; the burden of his sin was removed; and the love of God was shed abroad in his heart by the Holy Ghost.  He learned the lesson of humble submission to the will of God.  After this, as he looked out, and saw the young people happy at their sports; or, as he gazed on the green earth and the beautiful sky, and knew that he must remain a helpless cripple as long as he lived, he yet could say, with the utmost cheerfulness:—­“It’s all right.  My Father in heaven has done it.  I love him.  He loves me.  I know he is making all things work together for my good.”  He had learned the lesson we are now considering, and we see what comfort it gave him.  And the thought of the comfort which this lesson gives, should be a good reason with us all for learning it.

A fourth reason why we should learn the lesson of humility is because of the—­USEFULNESS—­connected with it.

Jesus tells us, by his apostle, that “God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble.”  St. James iv:  6.  If we have the grace of God we can be useful in many ways, but, without that grace we cannot be useful at all.  And this is what our Saviour taught his disciples, when he said to them—­“without me ye can do nothing.”  St. John xv:  5.  By the words “without me” he meant without my help, or without my grace; or without the help of my grace.  And it was of this grace that St. Paul was speaking when he said—­“I can do all things through Christ who strengtheneth me.”  Phil, iv:  13.

And we could not possibly have a stronger reason for trying to learn the lesson of humility than this, that our receiving the grace of God, and consequently our usefulness, depends upon it.  God will not give us his grace to enable us to be truly good and to make ourselves useful, unless we learn this lesson.  And unless we have the grace of God, we cannot be useful.  Like barren fig-trees we shall be useless cumberers of the ground.

Now let us look at one or two illustrations which show us how pride hinders the usefulness of men, while humility helps it.

“The Fisherman’s Mistake.”  An English gentleman was spending his summer holidays in Scotland.  He concluded to try his hand at fishing for trout in one of the neighboring streams.  He bought one of the handsomest fishing rods he could find, with line and reel, and artificial flies, and everything necessary to make a perfect outfit for a fisherman.  He went to the trout stream, and toiled all day, but never caught a single fish.

Towards the close of the day he saw a ragged little farmer boy, with a bean pole for a rod, and the simplest possible sort of a line, who was nipping the fish out of the water about as fast as he could throw his line in.  He watched the boy in amazement for awhile, and then asked him how it was that one, with so fine a rod and line, could catch no fish, while he with his poor outfit was catching so many.  The boy’s prompt reply was:—­“Ye’ll no catch ony fish Sir, as lang as ye dinna keep yersel’ oot o’ sicht.”