Few words, but what an exquisite miniature of the Lord Jesus Christ! Not many touches, but they are the strokes of a master's pencil. Of the Savior, and only of the Savior, is it true in the fullest, broadest, and most unqualified sense: "He went about doing good."

Notice something crucial in these words. Jesus did good personally. The Gospel writers constantly tell us: he touched the leper with his own finger. He anointed the eyes of the blind. When people begged him to just speak a healing word from a distance, he did not usually comply. Instead, he went to the sickbed himself and there personally wrought the cure.

There's a lesson here for us. If we want to do good, we must do it ourselves. Give alms with your own hand—a kind look, a warm word, will enhance the value of the gift. Speak to your friend about his soul yourself. Your loving appeal will have more influence than a whole library of tracts.

And look at our Lord's incessant activity! He didn't only do the good which came close to hand. No, he "went about" on his errands of mercy. Throughout the whole land of Judea there was scarcely a village or hamlet which was not gladdened by the sight of him. How this reproves our creeping, loitering manner of serving the Lord! We professors of faith creep along. We loiter. We serve when it's convenient.

Let us gird up the loins of our mind, and be not weary in well doing.

And doesn't the text imply that Jesus went out of his way to do good? "He went about doing good." He was never deterred by danger or difficulty. He sought out the objects of his gracious intentions. So must we. If old plans will not answer, we must try new ones, for fresh experiments sometimes achieve more than regular methods.

Christ's perseverance and the unity of his purpose are also hinted at here. The practical application can be summed up in these words: "He hath left us an example that we should follow in his steps."