120
Counsels on Stewardship
He beseeches men to turn from their infatuation. He brings the nobler
world before their vision, and says, “Lay not up for yourselves treasure
upon the earth.”
The Subtle Temptations
Christ sees the danger; He knows the subtle temptations and power
of the enemy; for He has experienced Satan’s temptations. He gave
His life to procure a period of probation for the sons and daughters
of Adam. With the result of Adam’s disobedience and transgressions
before them, with greater light shining upon them, they are invited
to come unto Him and find rest unto their souls. But the greater the
light and the plainer the danger signal, the greater the condemnation
of those will be who turn from light to darkness. The words of Christ
are too serious in their import to be disregarded.
Men seem moved with an insane desire to procure earthly posses-
sions. Every species of dishonesty is practiced in order to accumulate
wealth. Men pursue their business affairs with intense zeal, as though
success in this line would be a surety for obtaining heaven. They bind
up the Lord’s entrusted capital in worldly goods, and there is no means
with which to advance the kingdom of God in the world by relieving
the mental and physical distress of the world’s inhabitants. Many who
profess to be Christians fail to heed the command of Christ when He
says, “Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth
nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”
[138]
The Lord will not compel men to deal justly, to love mercy, and
to walk humbly with their God; He sets before the human agent good
and evil, and makes plain what will be the sure result of following one
course or the other. Christ invites us, saying, “Follow Me.” But we are
never forced to walk in His footsteps. If we do walk in His footsteps,
it is the result of deliberate choice. As we see the life and character of
Christ, strong desire is awakened to be like Him in character; and we
follow on to know the Lord, and to know His goings forth are prepared
as the morning. We then begin to realize that “the path of the just
is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect
day.”—
The Review and Herald, March 31, 1896
.