p. 111 | A. SMITH by A. SMITH

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Mar 18, 1873

A. SMITH

By A. SMITH

Almsgiving.

“WHEN the ear heard me, then it blessed me; and when the eye saw me, it gave witness to me; because I delivered the poor that cried, and the fatherless, and him that had none to help him. The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me: and I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy.” Job 29: 11-13.

Job was a man who did not wait for great opportunities to do good, but seized upon the everyday, and, what some would regard trivial, incidents, to dispense his bounty. Comparatively few can be found among the wealthy who are truly benevolent. And this is the result, not so much of an unwillingness to minister to the wants of the truly destitute, as of a long-practiced custom of aiming too high;—looking over the ordinary objects of charity, and seeking for some extraordinary object of want and suffering. But the ideal opportunity is never found, nor the terrible mistake discerned, until the final asseveration, “Inasmuch as ye did it not to the least of these ye did it not to me,” shall proclaim their folly.

A—— B—— is a widow, with several children dependent upon her for their support. Although in ill health, she works early and late with her needle, for low wages, and is obliged to pay rent for an uncomfortable tenement. Go, almoner, and buy her a sewing-machine, and provide her any other needed assistance,—find places for the children, if necessary, or supply them with the necessaries of life at their home. But they are not worthy. They are extravagant, unthankful, unchristian. So are many upon whom God sends his sunshine and rain. Transform them. In the command to visit the widow and the fatherless there are no moral qualifications. “Make the widow's heart sing for joy,” and then you will have influence to work a moral transformation.

C—— L—— is a poor man, in debt for his home, has a family to support, and times are hard. Lend him some money without interest, or pay some considerable debt for him. He will be your fast friend. “Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness.”

Does your poor brother in Christ need a coat, or hat, or a pair of shoes, lend him such of yours as you would willingly give to Jesus if he were incarnate in the place of your poor brother. While many are poor because of their own improvidence, some are so from necessity—surrounding circumstances are against them, and though they may have sometime let slip a golden opportunity to make property, they may have done so through the exercise of that charity, and love for the truth, that led them, instead of investing their means in speculation, to divide their substance with those more needy than themselves, or to sacrifice worldly advantage for the glory of God.