286
Counsels on Stewardship
Those who will receive the most abundant reward will be those
who have mingled with their activity and zeal, gracious, tender pity
for the poor, the orphan, the oppressed, and the afflicted. But those
who pass by on the other side, who are too busy to give attention to
the purchase of the blood of Christ, who are full of doing the great
things, will find themselves least and last.
Men act out the true character of the heart. There are about us
those who have a meek and lowly spirit, the spirit of Christ, who do
many little things to help those around them, and who think nothing of
it; they will be astonished at last to find that Christ has noticed the kind
word spoken to the disheartened, and taken account of the smallest
gift given for the relief of the poor, that cost the giver some self-denial.
The Lord measures the spirit, and rewards accordingly, and the pure,
humble, childlike spirit of love makes the offering precious in His
sight.—
The Review and Herald, July 3, 1894
.
As a Gift, Not as a Right
Peter said, “Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed Thee;
what shall we have therefore? This question on the part of Peter
showed that he thought that a certain amount of work on the part of the
[341]
apostles would be deserving of a certain amount of reward. Among the
disciples there was a spirit of complacency, of self-exaltation, and they
made comparisons among themselves. If any one of them signally
failed, others felt themselves superior. Jesus saw a spirit coming in
that must be checked. He could read the hearts of men, and He saw
their tendencies to selfishness in the question, “What shall we have?”
He must correct this evil before it assumed gigantic proportions.
The disciples were in danger of losing sight of the true principles
of the gospel. By the use of this parable [of the laborers who were
called] He teaches them that the reward is not of works, lest any man
should boast, but it is all of grace. The laborer called into the vineyard
at the beginning of the day had his reward in the grace that was given
him. But the one to whom the last call came, had the same grace as
had the first. The work was all of grace, and no one was to glory over
another. There was to be no grudging one against another. No one
was privileged above another, nor could any one claim the reward as