The Most Adorable Baby on Earth

 

Isn’t this the most adorable baby that you have ever seen? If you have an idea as to just what in the world this little guy may be thinking, post a comment to share – but be nice! – there are sensitive people out there.

 

Now, if you were the Mother or Father of this beautiful baby, naturally you would devote yourself to doing everything that you could to love and nurture him. Isn’t this degree of devotion also true with regard to our service to God and our Faith?  Bahá’ís ought to commit themselves with selfless love to the service of Bahá’u’lláh to the degree that they are able. Our service should be comparable to our ability to serve.

 

 

Jesus:

 

“That servant who knows his master’s will and does not get ready or does not do what his master wants will be beaten with many blows. But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.”

Luke 12:47-48

 

 

‘Abdu’l-Bahá:

 

The good deeds of the righteous are the sins of the Near Ones.

Some Answered Questions, p. 125

 

 

Bahá’u’lláh  encourages us to arise and serve:

 

“Make thou every effort to render service unto God, that from thee may appear that which will immortalize thy memory in His glorious and exalted heaven.”

Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh , p. 234

 

 

Service to God is the greatest thing that we can do:

 

“Our highest aspiration must be this: that we may become confirmed to render some slight service in the Path of God. There is no greater station than this.”

Bahá’í Scriptures, p. 285

 

 

We are assured of Divine assistance:

 

“Arise ye, under all conditions, to render service to the Cause, for God will assuredly assist you through the power of His sovereignty which overshadoweth the worlds.”

Bahá’u’lláh, The Kitab-i-Aqdas, p. 46

 

 

Pray for that assistance:

 

“I implore Thee by the glory of Thy Manifestation and by the power of Thy might, Thy sovereignty and Thine exaltation to render victorious those who have arisen to serve Thee, who have aided Thy Cause and humbled themselves before the splendour of the light of Thy face. Make them then, O my God, triumphant over Thine enemies and cause them to be steadfast in Thy service, that through them the evidences of Thy dominion may be established throughout Thy realms and the tokens of Thine indomitable power be manifested in Thy lands. Verily Thou art potent to do what Thou willest; no God is there but Thee, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting.”

Bahá’u’lláh, Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 233

 

 

Another prayer for God’s help:

 

“Immerse me, O my God, in this most bounteous, rolling Ocean; give me to drink of this sweet, abundant Water; cause me to enter this Gateway of Righteousness; ordain me for this praiseworthy Station; cause me to obtain this Cup which is overflowing with the living water; light in the crystal of my heart this Lamp which is giving forth its illuminating, brilliant radiance; and strengthen me for the service of Thy Cause, O my Lord, the Forgiver!”

Bahá’í Scriptures, p. 265

 

 

And another:

 

“At this time, I beg Thee, oh My God, by the Light of Thine Eternity, whereby the heavens and earth are illumined, to make My Feet of iron by which I may stand in His service, and the service of whosoever loveth Thee, that I may become a helper of Thy Religion, and a guardian of Thine Orders, until I suffer martyrdom in His Path in Thy Presence, Oh Thou in whose Hand is the Kingdom of all things. And verily Thou art the Almighty!”

Bahá’í Prayers 9, p. 19

 

 

We are encouraged to pursue a moderate and wise course. But to commit oneself to arise to great heights of service is most admirable:

 

“There is a great mystery involving the levels of service. Shoghi Effendi always advised the friends to pursue a moderate and wise course, but if they did not, and chose to rise to heights of heroism and self-sacrifice, he was immensely proud of them. After all, there is nothing either wise or moderate in being martyred — yet our crowning glory as a religion is that our first Prophet was martyred and twenty thousand people followed in His footsteps. I have tried to understand this mystery, moderation on one side and Bahá’u’lláh’s words on the other: ‘… then write with that crimson ink that hath been shed in My path. Sweeter indeed is this than all else…’ and it seems to me that the best example is an aeroplane: when it trundles along on the ground on its wheels it is in the dimension of the ground, going along steadily on an earthly plane, but when it soars in the air and folds its wheels away and leaps forward at dazzling speeds, it is in a celestial realm and the values are different. When we are on the ground we get good sound earthly advice, but if we choose to spurn the soil and leap into the realms of higher serv1ce and sacrifice we do not get that kind of advice any more, we win immortal fame and become heroes and heroines of God’s Cause.        

Ruhiyyih Khanum, The Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith, p. 54

 

 

Each of us has the potential to be a spiritual warrior for Bahá’u’lláh. And, we know that those people are out there:

 

“There lay concealed within the Holy Veil, and prepared for the service of God, a company of His chosen ones who shall be manifested unto men, who shall aid His Cause, who shall be afraid of no one, though the entire human race rise up and war against them.”

Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 280

 

May it be that you will arise to offer this great service?

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