274
Counsels on Stewardship
labor with all their might, as if fearful that they may lose the favorable
opportunity.
Those who neglect known duty by not answering to God’s claims
upon them in this life, and who soothe their consciences by calculating
on making their bequests at death, will receive no words of commen-
dation from the Master, nor will they receive a reward. They practiced
no self-denial, but selfishly retained their means as long as they could,
yielding it up only when death claimed them.
That which many propose to defer until they are about to die, if
[326]
they were Christians indeed they would do while they have a strong
hold on life. They would devote themselves and their property to God,
and, while acting as His stewards, they would have the satisfaction of
doing their duty. By becoming their own executors, they could meet
the claims of God themselves, instead of shifting the responsibility
upon others.
We should regard ourselves as stewards of the Lord’s property,
and God as the supreme proprietor, to whom we are to render His
own when He shall require it. When He shall come to receive His
own with usury, the covetous will see that instead of multiplying the
talents entrusted to them, they have brought upon themselves the doom
pronounced upon the unprofitable servant.
Living Benevolence or Dying Legacies
The Lord designs that the death of His servants shall be regarded
as a loss, because of the influence for good which they exerted and the
many willing offerings which they bestowed to replenish the treasury
of God. Dying legacies are a miserable substitute for living benevo-
lence. The servants of God should be making their wills every day, in
good works and liberal offerings to God. They should not allow the
amount given to God to be disproportionately small when compared
with that appropriated to their own use. In making their wills daily,
they will remember those objects and friends that hold the largest place
in their affections.
Their best friend is Jesus. He did not withhold His own life from
them, but for their sakes became poor, that through His poverty they
might be made rich. He deserves the whole heart, the property, all that
they have and are. But many professed Christians put off the claims of
[327]