Poems (Argent)/"The Master is Come and Calleth for Thee"
"THE MASTER IS COME AND CALLETH FOR THEE."
SOMETIMES He calls for theeIn life's young morning, when its opening hoursAre flushed with gladness as the summer flowers,When all around looks beautiful and gay,And pleasure strews thy path from day to day.It may be in the midst of such to theeThe Master saith, "Arise and follow Me"
Sometimes He calls for theeWhen sorrow comes, and sickness unawaresBrings troublous moments and unceasing cares;He bids thee learn the lesson hard in partTo give to Him the dear ones of thy heart.He bids thee bear the cross for His loved sake,The cross whose weight is ofttimes hard to take.
Sometimes He calls for theeTo work for Him, to go into His fieldsAnd bind the sheaves His latter harvest yields;To help His servants that go forth afarIn foreign lands beneath the tropic starWith willing hands to smooth the tangled strifeThrough paths of suffering to the perfect life.
Sometimes He calls for theeWith "still small voice" to gather to thy breastHis poor lost sheep who vainly seek for rest; To meekly follow where His feet have trodThe thorny furrows that lead up to God;To stretch a hand where aid is needed mostTo such as err and count themselves as lost.
Sometimes He calls for theeTo give up all thy earthly dreams, that dimThe narrow way that leads at last to Him;To lose and suffer, and to count but vainEarth's passing joys to heaven's eternal gain.It may be in the silence and the shadeThou best shalt hear His voice, "Be not afraid!"
Whene'er it be He calls,Oh! make thou ready, do not tarry long;E'en now perchance the angels' deathless songIs wafted to thee, and their anthem rollsGrandly o'er Christ's redeemed and faithful souls.Oh! may His last sweet call speak thus to thee,"That where I am, there shall My servant be!"