Help for Mission Fields
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The intellect is a talent; use it in studying how best to employ your
means for the salvation of souls.
Teach your children that God has a claim upon all they possess, a
claim that nothing can ever cancel; whatever they have is theirs only
in trust as a test of their obedience. Inspire them with ambition to gain
stars for their crown by winning many souls from sin to righteousness.
Money is a needed treasure; let it not be lavished upon those who
do not need it. Someone needs your willing gifts. Too often those
who have means fail to consider how many in the world are hungry,
starving for food. They may say: “I cannot feed them all.” But by
practicing Christ’s lessons on economy you can feed one. It may be
that you can feed many who are hungering for temporal food. And you
can feed their souls with the bread of life. “Gather up the fragments
that remain, that nothing be lost.”
John 6:12
. These words were spoken
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by Him who had all the resources of the universe at His command;
while His miracle-working power supplied thousands with food, He
did not disdain to teach a lesson in economy.
Practice economy in the use of your time. This is the Lord’s. Your
strength is the Lord’s. If you have extravagant habits, cut them away
from your life. Such habits, indulged, will make you bankrupt for
eternity. And habits of economy, industry, and sobriety are, even in
this world, a better portion for you and your children than a rich dowry.
We are travelers, pilgrims and strangers, on earth. Let us not spend
our means in gratifying desires that God bids us repress. Let us rather
set a right example before our associates. Let us fitly represent our
faith by restricting our wants. Let the churches arise as one, and work
earnestly as those who are walking in the full light of truth for these
last days. Let your influence impress souls with the sacredness of
God’s requirements.
If in the providence of God you have been given riches, do not
settle down with the thought that you need not engage in useful labor,
that you have enough, and can eat, drink, and be merry. Do not stand
idle while others are struggling to obtain means for the cause. Invest
your means in the Lord’s work. If you do less than your duty in giving
help to the perishing, remember that your indolence is incurring guilt.
It is God who gives men power to get wealth, and He has bestowed
this ability, not as a means of gratifying self, but as a means of returning
to God His own. With this object it is not a sin to acquire means.