Christian fiction; Wingfold, Thomas (Fictitious character) -- Fiction
"Were there no such thing as Divine Service in the true sense of the
word, then, indeed it would scarcely be worth while to quarrel with
its misapplication. But I assert that true and genuine service may
be rendered to the living God; and, for the development of the
divine nature in man, it is necessary that he should do something
for God. Nor is it hard to discover how; for God is in every
creature that he has made, and in their needs he is needy, and in
all their afflictions he is afflicted. Therefore Jesus says that
whatever is done to one of his little ones is done to him. And if
the soul of a man be the temple of the Spirit, then is the place of
that man's labour, his shop, his counting-house, his laboratory, the
temple of Jesus Christ, where the spirit of the man is incarnate in
work.--Mr. Drew!"--Here the gate-keeper stood up, and held out both
his hands, palms upward, towards the draper on the other side of the
table.--"Mr. Drew! your shop is the temple of your service where the
Lord Christ, the only image of the Father is, or ought to be
throned; your counter is, or ought to be his altar; and everything
thereon laid, with intent of doing as well as you can for your
neighbour, in the name of THE man Christ Jesus, is a true sacrifice
offered to Him, a service done to the eternal creating Love of the
universe."
The little prophet's head as he stood, did not reach the level of
the draper's as he sat, but at this Drew dropped his head on his
hands upon the table, as if bowed down by a weight of thought and
feeling and worship.
"I say not," Polwarth went on, "that so doing you will grow a rich
man, but I say that so doing you will be saved from growing too
rich, and that you will be a fellow-worker with God for the
salvation of his world."
"I must live; I cannot give my goods away!" murmured Mr. Drew,
thinkingly, as one that sought enlightenment.
"That would be to go direct against the order of his world, "said
Polwarth." No; a harder task is yours, Mr. Drew--to make your
business a gain to you, and at the same time to be not only what is
commonly counted just, but interested in, and careful of, and caring
for your neighbour, as a servant of the God of bounty who giveth to
all men liberally. Your calling is to do the best for your neighbour
that you reasonably can."
"But who is to fix what is reasonable?" asked Drew.
"The man himself, thinking in the presence of Jesus Christ. There is
a holy moderation which is of God."
"There won't be many fortunes--great fortunes--made after that rule,
Mr. Polwarth."
"Very few."
"Then do you say that no great fortunes have been righteously made?"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account