Miss Elizabeth Clephane was a descendent of a famous family and yet she chose to serve the poor and the sick of her community in Scotland. It was said that she willingly gave her resources to charity, so much so that she was affectionately known to the people in her town as “the sunbeam”. She died at the young age of thirty-nine. If it were not because of the hymns she had written, the world might not have known who Elizabeth Clephane was. Interestingly enough, the majority of her writings were only published anonymously three years after her death. So Elizabeth Clephane became famous only after she had died. But that was not a problem for Elizabeth, because she did not really care much about fame. In her hymn “Beneath the Cross of Jesus”, she wrote these powerful words to express her feelings: I take, O cross, thy shadow / For my abiding place / I ask no other sunshine than / The sunshine of His face / Content to let the world go by / To know no gain nor loss / My sinful self my only shame / My glory all the cross. Choosing to live for Christ is a gift from God. Whenever I hear of our young brothers’ and sisters’ desire to serve God, and when they ask me to pray for them, I thank God for them. It is encouraging to see Christians becoming successful in education, at work, in the business world, or on the stage of politics. We can glorify God through our professions and achievements as long as we acknowledge that all our wisdom and abilities come from God. The wisdom of this world tells us to strive to become rich and famous. As Christians, we must go beyond the worldly standard by asking ourselves, “What does God want me to do for Him? How am I going to live for Jesus? Is everything I do pleasing to God?” “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” (Proverbs 9:10)

祁伊麗小姐是英國一個著名家族的後代, 但是她選擇了在蘇格蘭的社區內服務窮人和病人. 傳說由於她心甘情願地把自己的資源用於慈善事業之上, 以至當地的居民親切地稱她為 “溫暖的陽光”. 她去世的時候才三十九歲. 假如不是因為她寫的讚美詩, 世人可能不知道誰是祁伊麗. 很有意思的, 她大部分的著作都是在她去世三年以後才被匿名發表出來. 故此祁伊麗是死後才成名的. 但是對祁伊麗來說, 這都是無關重要的. 因為她並不在乎名聲. 在她所寫的一首詩 “在主耶穌聖架下”, 她用了如下強而有力的詞句來表達自己的心聲: 在主十架清影下 / 是我安居之鄉 / 有主聖容光輝照耀 / 何須別有光亮 / 世界虛榮甘願撇下 / 得失非所計較 / 思我罪身無非羞辱 / 十架是我榮耀. 選擇為神而活是神給我們的恩賜. 每當我聽到年輕的弟兄姊妹有一個心志去服事神, 他們要我為他們祈禱的時候, 我就為他們感謝神. 能夠看見基督徒在教育界, 在工作上, 在商業界, 或在政治舞台上的成功, 是可以讓人得到鼓勵的. 只要我們承認我們所有的智慧和能力都是來自神, 我們就可以透過我們的事業和成就去榮耀祂. 世俗的智慧告訴我們要為名成利就而努力苦幹. 作為基督徒, 我們必須超越世俗的標準, 撫心自問, “到底神要我為祂做什麼呢? 我應當如何為耶穌而活呢? 我所做的一切是否討神喜悅的呢?  “敬畏耶和華, 是智慧的開端;認識至聖者, 便是聰明.” （箴言9:10）