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The Retirement Years
who have no children, to place their means where it can be used in
the cause of God if they should be suddenly taken away. But I saw
that Satan and his angels exult over their success in this matter. And
those who should be wise heirs of salvation almost willingly let their
Lord’s money slip out of their hands into the enemy’s ranks. In this
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way they strengthen Satan’s kingdom, and seem to feel very easy about
it!—
Testimonies for the Church 1:199, 200
.
When Legal Advice Is Important
At the camp meeting in Vermont, in 1870, I felt urged by the
Spirit of God to bear a plain testimony relative to the duty of aged
and wealthy parents in the disposition of their property. I had been
shown that some men who are shrewd, prudent, and sharp in regard
to the transaction of business generally, men who are distinguished
for promptness and thoroughness, manifest a want of foresight and
promptness in regard to a proper disposal of their property while they
are living. They know not how soon their probation may close; yet they
pass on from year to year with their business unsettled, and frequently
their lives finally close without their having the use of their reason. Or
they may die suddenly, without a moment’s warning, and their property
be disposed of in a manner that they would not have approved. These
are guilty of negligence; they are unfaithful stewards.
Christians who believe the present truth should manifest wisdom
and foresight. They should not neglect the disposition of their means,
expecting a favorable opportunity to adjust their business during a long
illness. They should have their business in such a shape that, were
they called at any hour to leave it, and should they have no voice in
its arrangement, it might be settled as they would have had it were
they alive. Many families have been dishonestly robbed of all their
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property, and have been subjected to poverty, because the work that
might have been well done in an hour had been neglected. Those
who make their wills should not spare pains or expense to obtain legal
advice, and to have them drawn up in a manner to stand the test.
I saw that those who profess to believe the truth should show their
faith by their works. They should, with the unrighteous mammon,
make friends, that they may finally be received into everlasting habita-
tions. God has made men stewards of means. He has placed in their