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THE K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
in church work equivalent to w hat he would tu rn over to his office boy. L ater on in th e n arrativ e, when the tabernacle had been built, th e work of tak in g care of it and tran spo rting it was divided among the chief fam ilies of the Levites and th e priests. The kind of men to whom th is im p o rtan t work, th a t Moses had been do ing, was to be tu rn ed over, deserves our earn est atten tion . The req u ire ments of the office are specified in v . . 21. Let us help as many as we can to find ou t some definite b it of service th a t they can do for God, 'some service th a t is worth while. “W hat a rt thou doing, Christian? Is it work for Christ thy Lord? A rt thou w inning many sinners By thy life, thy pen, th y word? When the solemn question cometh, W hat will th in e answer be? Canst thou point to something fin ished? Saying— “Lord, my work for T h ee!” “W hat doest thou in service?—- A rt thou tak ing active p art? Are life and tongue in earnest, Outflow of loving h eart? Or a r t thou idly gazing While others toil and sow, Content w ith simply praising The earnestness they show? “W hat doest thou, redeemed one, Child of a m ighty King? W hat glory to thy F a th e r Doth th y princely bearing bring? If no one brough t H im honour, And no one gave H im praise, To thee it app ertaineth The paeon-note to raise. “W hat doest thou here? Wherever Thine earth ly lo t be cast, Oh, le t each hou r and moment In gladsome work be passed! Here! thou may’s t do a life-woi;k; Here! thou may’st win a crown,
of business to be transacted, was far beyond th e powers of any one man. Moses had grown- into th e work n a t u rally enough, for a t first th e re was no one to share it w ith him. He simply had to shoulder it. As long as it was necessary for him to do so God gave him streng th for it. III. Je th ro ’s Counsel. Je th ro coming on the scene, w ith a new view-point, was quick to realize th a t th e work must be divided up. He suggested th a t while Moses continue his work of intercession of th e people w ith God, and would continue to handle the more im po rtan t cases th a t came up, he should leave th e m inor m atters in th e hands of men who were quite able to deal w ith them . Je th ro was careful not to insist on Moses doing so, and pu t in th e provision th a t he should only follow his advice if God should, show him it was His plan. This took place a t th e beginning of Isra el’s h istory as a nation, before things had been organ ized and a working plan had been re vealed. "When th e Church was in its infancy, th e apostles, themselves, were able to attend to everything, b u t as the Church grew larg er and the problems k ep t mul tiplying, th e apostles, led undoubtedly by th e Holy Spirit, suggested to the Church th a t deacons should be elected to relieve th e apostles and leave them free for th e teaching of th e Word and prayer. This same principle is th a t on which th e business world is ru n today. M ight it n o t b e .fo r th e w elfare of the Church if our p astors were to follow th e same plan? Mr. Moody used to say th a t “ it was b etter to set ten men a t work th a n to do th e work of ten men.” When we endeavor to set men to work, however, we m ust give th em work w orth doing. It is ra th e r absurd to ex pect a big business man to feel th a t he is doing something w orth while, for th e Lord, when we give him some job
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