Living In The Light

July 26, Consumers And Producers

For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building.
—1 Corinthians 3:9 LL 220.1

Not a few, but thousands of human beings exist only to consume the benefits which God in His mercy bestows on them. They forget to bring the Lord gratitude offerings for the riches He has entrusted to them in giving them the fruit of the earth. They forget that by trading wisely on the talents lent them, they are to be producers as well as consumers. If they had a realization of the work the Lord desires them to do as His helping hand, they would not feel it a privilege to shun all responsibility and be waited on. LL 220.2

Real happiness is found only in being good and doing good. The purest, highest enjoyment comes to those who faithfully fulfil their appointed duties. To every person, according to his ability, God entrusts a work. No honest work is degrading. It is ignoble sloth which leads human beings to look down on the simple, everyday duties of life. The refusal to perform these duties causes a mental and moral deficiency which will one day be keenly felt. At some time in the life of the slothful, their deformity will stand out clearly defined. Over their life record is written the words, “A consumer, but not a producer.” LL 220.3

He or she who is indolent and willingly ignorant places in their pathway that which will always be an obstruction. They refuse the culture which comes from faithful toil. By failing to put forth a helping hand in behalf of humanity, they rob God. His or her career is very different from the career which God marked out for them. To despise useful employment encourages the lower tastes and effectually paralyzes the most useful energies of the being. LL 220.4

From all the vocations of life, useful spiritual lessons may be learned. Those who till the soil may, while they work, study the meaning of the words, “Ye are God’s husbandry” (1 Corinthians 3:9). In the human heart the seeds of truth are to be sown, that the life may bear the beautiful fruit of the Spirit. God’s impress on the mind is to mold it into graceful symmetry. The crude energies, both physical and mental, are to be trained for the Master’s service.— Manuscript 96, 1901. LL 220.5

Further Reflection: Have you worked, or are you now working, in the career that God designed for you? How has work helped you become better person? LL 220.6