Trying to Serve God and Mammon
189
indulgence of self while the cause of God is in need of means. Some
are so cold and backslidden that they do not realize that they are setting
their affections on earthly treasure, which is soon to be swept away
forever. The love of the world is binding them about, like a thick
garment; and unless they change their course, they will not know how
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precious it is to practice self-denial for Christ’s sake. All our idols, our
love of the world, must be expelled from the heart.
There are ministers and faithful friends who see the danger that
surrounds these self-bound souls, and who faithfully present to them
the error of their course, but instead of taking admonitions in the spirit
in which they are given, and profiting thereby, those reproved rise up
against the ones who deal with them faithfully.
O, that they might arouse from their spiritual lethargy, and now
acquaint themselves with God! The world is blinding their eyes from
seeing Him who is invisible. They are unable to discern the most
precious things that are of eternal interest, but view the truth of God
in so dim a light that it seems of little value to them. The merest
atom concerning their temporal interests assumes magnified propor-
tions, while the things concerning eternity are dropped out of their
reckoning.—
The Review and Herald, October 31, 1893
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True Generosity Destroyed
Men who are in comparative poverty are usually the ones who do
the most to sustain the cause of God. They are generous with their
little. They have strengthened their generous impulses by continual
liberalities. When their expenditures pressed close upon the income,
their passion for earthly riches had no room or chance to strengthen.
But many, when they begin to gather earthly riches, commence
to calculate how long it will be before they can be in possession of
a certain sum. In their anxiety to amass wealth for themselves, they
fail to become rich toward God. Their benevolence does not keep
pace with their accumulation. As their passion for riches increases,
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their affections are bound up with their treasure. The increase of their
property strengthens the eager desire for more, until some consider that
their giving to the Lord a tenth is a severe and unjust tax. Inspiration
has said, “If riches increase, set not your heart upon them.” Many have
said, “If I were as rich as such a one, I would multiply my gifts to the