p. 115 | Be Economical by Adolphus Smith

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Mar 29, 1870

Be Economical.

By Adolphus Smith

It is a habit with some, in times of plenty, to be profligate in the use of money and commodities; buying articles of little or no value, to please the fancy, or gratify the appetite, allowing that which may be used for food to be wasted, and using little discretion in the choice or wearing of apparel.

I have noticed in well-regulated families that have arisen from comparative poverty to a condition of affluence, certain customs that were, no doubt, one great secret of their success, and such as are doubtless worthy of universal imitation.

Not to speak particularly of all the habits of economy carried out by such families, on the farm, in the work-shop, in the laundry, the kitchen, the parlor, let me mention only one of the most noticeable and common; viz., the use of tapers, made of slips of waste paper, tightly folded, in lieu of matches, to light lamps and candles with. Now the saving of a match, or a pin, is a small item in household economy, but when the same principle is made a rule of action in all the concerns of life, in the course of a few years it would amount to no inconsiderable sum.

Some children are carefully taught to pick up kernels of corn that may be lying around, for they would make a dinner for a hen; or the paring of an apple, it would make a mouthful for a sheep; or a wisp of hay, it would make a morsel for a cow. Now this is right, and may, in time, prove of greater value to them than possessions of gold and silver, without such instructions. But property thus saved, should ever be held ready to be used to the glory of God, in the support of the cause of truth, and in relieving the wants of the destitute. Nor should these principles of economy be made rigid, or burdensome, but as stewards of the Lord, we should care wisely for that which the Master has committed to our trust.

The custom of buying on credit at the store, or elsewhere, is generally very bad economy. Merchants will seldom dispose of their commodities on credit at as low rates as they would for cash; and then when pay day comes, the debtor is often obliged to meet his obligation at a considerable loss. As a general rule, store debts should be avoided as one would shun the bite of a serpent, or the sting of an adder.

Hiring money on interest, except in urgent cases, is decidedly bad economy. If a man were to count the time spent in looking for, and in returning, moneys loaned, he would often find it would equal or exceed in value the per cent he pays on the face of his note.

Some persons, becoming dissatisfied with the slow process of acquiring property by patient toil and frugality, engage in business, or speculations, in which they have no experience, urged on, it may be, by the apparent success of others, until it appears, to their serious disadvantage, that they have been in pursuit of a phantasm—a bubble that vanishes at the first touch. “Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety.” Prov. 11: 14.

The scripture I have quoted, contains an excellent hint to those afflicted with the above evil. The Lord, whom he serves, should be the chief counsel of the Christian; and no untried enterprise should be engaged in, without careful inquiry at the throne of grace, and counsel with our fellow-men. Say all that can be said, and all that can be done, much suffering still remains. What shall be done? Let those whom God has intrusted with means, prove themselves almoners of Heaven, scattering blessings among the poor, unseen, unheard by man, but known and loved of Him who sitteth on the throne. See Ps. 41: 1–3, etc.

The rich, having no experience in common with those who suffer under the iron rule of poverty, are in danger, without intending it, of oppressing the poor, to carry out their own purposes for increasing their property, which, perhaps, already like a dark cloud, intervenes to shut out from their view the light of Heaven, and to gather blackness for the tempest that will soon sweep the wicked from the earth. See James 5: 1–6.

As a general rule, those who are most worthy of assistance, are the slowest to ask for it. An aching heart may be hidden beneath a cheerful countenance. If a church be in a healthy condition, it will have a care for the well-being of all its members; and unless it be paralyzed, in part, or in whole, if one member suffer, every heart will throb with sympathetic emotion, and an earnest effort be made to heal every wound. ADOLPHUS SMITH. Ottawa Co., Mich.