July 28, Evening

C. H. Spurgeon · Modern retelling

"Who went about doing good." — Acts 10:38 · KJV

Few words, yet an exquisite miniature of the Lord Jesus Christ — not many strokes, but the strokes of a master's hand. Of the Savior, and only of the Savior, is it true in the fullest sense: "He went about doing good." Plainly He did good personally. The evangelists tell us that He touched the leper with His own finger, anointed the eyes of the blind, and, when asked to speak the word only at a distance, would rather go Himself to the sick bed and there work the cure. A lesson to us: if we would do good, let us do it ourselves. Give alms with your own hand; a kind look or word enhances the gift. Speak to a friend about his soul; your loving appeal will do more than a library of tracts. His way of doing good shows His incessant activity: He did not only the good that came to hand, but "went about" on His errands of mercy, till scarcely a village in Judea was not gladdened by the sight of Him. How this reproves the loitering manner in which many serve the Lord! Let us gird up the loins of our mind and be not weary in well doing. The text implies, too, that He went out of His way to do good, never deterred by danger or difficulty, but seeking out the objects of His mercy. So must we; if old plans will not answer, we must try new ones, for fresh experiments sometimes achieve more than regular methods. His perseverance and singleness of purpose are hinted at as well; and the whole may be summed up thus: "He hath left us an example, that we should follow His steps."