Tithes and Offerings
363
this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those
things be, which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure
for himself, and is not rich toward God.”
The length and happiness of life does not consist in the amount
of our earthly possessions. This foolish rich man in his supreme
selfishness had laid up for himself treasures that he could not use. He
had lived only for himself. He had over-reached in trade, had made
sharp bargains, and had not exercised mercy or the love of God. He
had robbed the fatherless and widow, and defrauded his fellow men,
to add to his increasing stock of worldly possessions. He might have
laid up his treasure in heaven in bags that wax not old; but through
his covetousness he lost both worlds. Those who humbly use to the
glory of God the means that He has entrusted to them will receive their
treasure by and by from the Master’s hand with the benediction: “Well
done, good and faithful servant: ... enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.”
When we consider the infinite sacrifice made for the salvation of
men we are lost in amazement. When selfishness clamors for the
victory in the hearts of men, and they are tempted to withhold their due
proportion in any good work, they should strengthen their principles
of right by the thought that He who was rich in heaven’s priceless
treasure turned away from it all and became poor. He had not where
to lay His head. And all this sacrifice was in our behalf, that we might
have eternal riches.
Christ set His own feet in the path of self-denial and sacrifice which
all His disciples must travel if they would be exalted with Him at last.
He took to His own heart the sorrows which man must suffer. The
minds of worldly men frequently become gross. They can see only
earthly things, which eclipse the glory and value of heavenly things.
Men will compass land and sea for earthly gain, and endure privation
[403]
and suffering to obtain their object, yet will turn away from heaven’s
attractions and not regard eternal riches. 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