“Be Not Anxious”
Thus our business or calling is a part of God’s great plan, and, so long as it is conducted in accordance with His will, He Himself is responsible for the results. “Laborers together with God,”[[192]] our part is faithful compliance with His directions. Thus there is no place for anxious care. Diligence, fidelity, care-taking, thrift, and discretion are called for. Every faculty is to be exercised to its highest capacity. But the dependence will be, not on the successful outcome of our efforts, but on the promise of God. The word that fed Israel in the desert, and sustained Elijah through the time of famine, has the same power to-day. “Be not anxious,[[193]] saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink?... Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”[[194]]
Tithing
He who gives men power to get wealth has with the gift bound up an obligation. Of all that we acquire He claims a specified portion. The tithe is the Lord’s. “All the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree,” “the tithe of the herd or of the flock, ... shall be holy unto the Lord.”[[195]] The pledge made by Jacob at Bethel shows the extent of the obligation. “Of all that Thou shalt give me,” he said, “I will surely give the tenth unto Thee.”[[196]]
“Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse,”[[197]] is God’s command. No appeal is made to gratitude or to generosity. This is a matter of simple honesty. The tithe is the Lord’s; and He bids us return to Him that which is His own.
“It is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.”[[198]] If honesty is an essential principle of business life, must we not recognize our obligation to God,—the obligation that underlies every other?
Ministry
By the terms of our stewardship we are placed under obligation, not only to God, but to man. To the infinite love of the Redeemer every human being is indebted for the gifts of life. Food and raiment and shelter, body and mind and soul,—all are the purchase of His blood. And by the obligation of gratitude and service thus imposed, Christ has bound us to our fellow-men. He bids us, “By love serve one another.”[[199]] “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these My brethren, ye have done it unto Me.”[[200]]