Thus our business or calling is a part of God’s great plan, and, so long
as it is conducted in accordance with His will, He Himself is
responsible for the results. “Laborers together with God,”[192] our part
is faithful compliance with His directions. Thus there is no place for
anxious care. Diligence, fidelity, care-taking, thrift, and discretion
are called for. Every faculty is to be exercised to its highest
capacity. But the dependence will be, not on the successful outcome of
our efforts, but on the promise of God. The word that fed Israel in the
desert, and sustained Elijah through the time of famine, has the same
power to-day. “Be not anxious,[193] saying, What shall we eat? or, What
shall we drink?... Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His
righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”[194]
* * * * *
[Sidenote: _Tithing_]
He who gives men power to get wealth has with the gift bound up an
obligation. Of all that we acquire He claims a specified portion. The
tithe is the Lord’s. “All the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of
the land or of the fruit of the tree,” “the tithe of the herd or of the
flock, ... shall be holy unto the Lord.”[195] The pledge made by Jacob
at Bethel shows the extent of the obligation. “Of all that Thou shalt
give me,” he said, “I will surely give the tenth unto Thee.”[196]
“Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse,”[197] is God’s command. No
appeal is made to gratitude or to generosity. This is a matter of simple
honesty. The tithe is the Lord’s; and He bids us return to Him that
which is His own.
“It is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.”[198] If
honesty is an essential principle of business life, must we not
recognize our obligation to God,—the obligation that underlies every
other?
* * * * *
[Sidenote: _Ministry_]
By the terms of our stewardship we are placed under obligation, not only
to God, but to man. To the infinite love of the Redeemer every human
being is indebted for the gifts of life. Food and raiment and shelter,
body and mind and soul,—all are the purchase of His blood. And by the
obligation of gratitude and service thus imposed, Christ has bound us to
our fellow-men. He bids us, “By love serve one another.”[199] “Inasmuch
as ye have done it unto one of the least of these My brethren, ye have
done it unto Me.”[200]
[Sidenote: “_I Am Debtor_”]
“I am debtor,” Paul declares, “both to the Greeks and to the barbarians;
both to the wise and to the unwise.”[201] So also are we. By all that
has blessed our life above others, we are placed under obligation to
every human being whom we might benefit.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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