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THE K I NG ' S BUS I NES S
there was not enough food to go around at any time, he would be the one to go without. He felt the pinch of pov erty and always showed consideration for the poor. Matt. 11:5.
T H U R S D A Y , A p r i l 2 1 .
P s a l m 1 2 6 : 1 - 6 .
T h e R e w a r d o f L a b o r . Work brings its own reward. The indolent call it drudgery but the indus trious find a satisfaction in labor irre spective of its recompense. There is always a harvest to follow. Industry is a formative influence upon character. Therefore we are not to become weary in well-doing. The sleep of the labor ing man is always sweet. Moreover by being occupied, he is less exposed to temptation and less liable to get into the mischief th a t proverbially waits for idle hands. He is to be congratulated who is obliged to work for a living. Of all kinds of work, Christian work is the most blessed and yields the largest and most lasting reward. Every Christian should be a Christian worker. A p o s t o l i c M a x i m s . Marcus Aurelius said, “It is possible to be noble even in a palace.” We may admit the possibility while insisting upon the difficulty. The sturdy Puritan character is not evolved in the midst of luxurious surroundings. “Why should I learn to w rite?” said the peevish child of a millionaire, “ I can always hire some one to do it for me.” When there are no “chores” for a child to do, how can he ever learn the ministry of per sonal service? If one believes he can never come to want, a great incentive to effort is taken away. Education must be related to life. The Bible is the best text-book on political economy th a t was ever written. It belongs to the litera ture of power rather than to the liter ature of knowledge. It is essentially dynamic. The man who knows his Bible and orders his life by its teach ings is the man whose life is most worth while. L i f e I s W o r k , N o t P l a y . There is a method of child-training th a t consists chiefly of play. It is in teresting no doubt to see children handling bright-colored cards and yarns and dancing about the room pretending they are birds or butterflies. While gifts and games have their place, the life of a boy or girl differs in many im portant respects from th a t of a butter fly. Life has in it many things sterner than pretty toys. It is rather a battle field than a play-ground, where, we en dure hardness as good soldiers of Jesus F R I D A Y , A p r i l 2 2 . 2 T h e s s . 3 : 6 - 1 3 . S A T U R D A Y , A p r i l 2 3 . R o m . 1 2 : 9 - 2 1 .
T U E S D A Y , A p r i l 1 9 .
J o h n 5 : 1 7 - 2 3 .
A W o r k i n g G o d . An employer once discharged an em ployee for breaking the fourth com mandment. At his indignant protest, he was referred to the commandment and to his surprise he found a part of it to read “ Six days thou shalt work.” What God is, man is required to be. God is love. Therefore man must love. God works. Therefore man must work. What a stupendous work is that of ere-, ation and preservation, the administra tion of heavenly and earthly affairs, and providing for the needs of animate cre ation, to say nothing of the work of redemption! Honest and useful toil is always honorable, whatever its nature. The sweat of the brain is just as acid as the sweat of the brow. The scholar and mechanic, the artist and artisan are all enrolled in the ranks of labor. The work of the Saviour was as arduous and exacting as he went about doing good, healing the sick, comforting the sor rowing and preaching the Gospel as it ever was in the carpenter shop at Nazar e th . T h e W o r k e r a n d t h e I d l e r . Production and consumption in the body politic correspond to waste and repair in the human body. Only as pro duction exceeds consumption is wealth increased. Every human being is ne cessarily a consumer. Every able bodied man should therefore be a producer and produce more than he consumes for the sake of those who do not have ability. There are idle rich and idle poor. There are busy rich and busy poor. Many a pauper is as idle as if he had a million dollars and many a millionaire works harder than his errand boy. If the laborer is worthy of his meat, what is the loiterer worthy of? It is the will of God that every man should have a calling, and make a business of it. He would not have any live like useless drones upon the earth. “Not slothful in business, fer vent in spirit, serving the Lord.” Rom. 12 : 11 . W E D N E S D A Y , A p r i l 2 0 . P r o v . 2 4 : 2 7 - 3 4 .
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