Results of Transgression
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his associates. As they labored with him day after day, they yielded to
the inclination to compare his wages with their own, and they began to
lose sight of the holy character of their work. The spirit of self-denial
left them, and in its place came the spirit of covetousness. The result
was a demand for higher wages, which was granted.
The baleful influences thus set in operation permeated all branches
of the Lord’s service, and extended throughout the kingdom. The high
wages demanded and received gave to many an opportunity to indulge
in luxury and extravagance. The poor were oppressed by the rich; the
spirit of self-sacrifice was well-nigh lost. In the far-reaching effects
of these influences may be traced one of the principal causes of the
terrible apostasy of him who once was numbered among the wisest of
mortals.
The sharp contrast between the spirit and motives of the people
building the wilderness tabernacle, and of those engaged in erecting
Solomon’s temple, has a lesson of deep significance. The self-seeking
that characterized the workers on the temple finds its counterpart today
in the selfishness that rules in the world. The spirit of covetousness,
of seeking for the highest position and the highest wage, is rife. The
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willing service and joyous self-denial of the tabernacle workers is
seldom met with. But this is the only spirit that should actuate the
followers of Jesus. Our divine Master has given an example of how
His disciples are to work. To those whom He bade, “Follow Me, and I
will make you fishers of men” (
Matthew 4:19
), He offered no stated
sum as a reward for their services. They were to share with Him in
self-denial and sacrifice.
Not for the wages we receive are we to labor. The motive that
prompts us to work for God should have in it nothing akin to self-
serving. Unselfish devotion and a spirit of sacrifice have always been
and always will be the first requisite of acceptable service. Our Lord
and Master designs that not one thread of selfishness shall be woven
into His work. Into our efforts we are to bring the tact and skill,
the exactitude and wisdom, that the God of perfection required of
the builders of the earthly tabernacle; yet in all our labors we are to
remember that the greatest talents or the most splendid services are
acceptable only when self is laid upon the altar, a living, consuming
sacrifice.