Rebuke Against Extortion
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of heaven. He who truly fears God, would rather toil day and night,
and eat the bread of poverty, than to indulge the passion for gain that
oppresses the widow and fatherless or turns the stranger from his right.
The slightest departure from rectitude breaks down the barriers
and prepares the heart to do greater injustice. Just to that extent that a
man would gain advantage for himself at the disadvantage of another,
will his soul become insensible to the influence of the Spirit of God.
Gain obtained at such a cost is a fearful loss.
We were all debtors to divine justice, but we had nothing with
which to pay the debt. Then the Son of God, who pitied us, paid the
price of our redemption. He became poor that through His poverty we
might be rich. By deeds of liberality toward His poor we may prove
the sincerity of our gratitude for the mercy extended to us. “Let us do
good unto all men,” the apostle Paul enjoins, “especially unto them
who are of the household of faith.”
Galatians 6:10
. And his words
accord with those of the Saviour: “Ye have the poor with you always,
and whensoever ye will ye may do them good.” “Whatsoever ye would
that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law
and the prophets.”
Mark 14:7
;
Matthew 7:12
.
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