GETTING SOMETHING FOR NOTHING.
By A. J. B.
A FRUITFUL source of unhappiness to many in this age of the world, is the disappointment sure to follow their vain endeavor to obtain something for nothing. Many are possessed with the false idea that it is actually possible for them to secure the desirable things of life without paying the price; that they are entitled to the roses without the thorns. Wily advertisers take advantage of this illusion in the minds of the people, and as the result, the journals of the day fairly reek with advertisements offering, “free of charge,” almost any article that one could mention, worth from five cents to five hundred dollars each. But those who have ever answered such advertisements, know full well that they are absolutely false, and that in each case where any article is secured, its full, round price is always paid in advance. The man who does this kind of advertising is not in the business for charity’s sake, nor for the sake of his health, but for the money there is in it. For every seeming advantage that one gains in a trade there is a corresponding disadvantage. He who cheats finds himself cheated in the long run; for while he reaps pecuniary gain for the time being, his losses in peace of mind, purity of character, and Christian manhood, are correspondingly great. The righteous have their reward in this life as well as in the life that shall be. The very exercise of charity, honesty, and virtue, carries with it its own priceless reward. This present reward of the righteous is not, of course, wholly made up of material things which may be seen—though the Master sees to it that material prosperity also follows His faithful children. The best reward or compensation, for good works, is that peace of soul which inevitably accompanies the very act of doing a good work; it is well described as “the peace of God, which passeth all understanding” (Phil. 4:7), and which no fortune, however great, can purchase. There are two classes of people to whom peace does not come: first, those who do not righteousness, and, secondly, those who try to get it for nothing, or for a faith that does no good works. That the first class do not abide in peace, is proved by the fact (Isa. 57:21) that “there is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked;” for the preceding verse says, in like strain, that “the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt.” Again, those of the second class are clearly debarred from the enjoyment of peace by the declaration of Paul (Rom. 2:10) which assigns “peace, to every man that worketh good.” Everything in this world has its price, and that price must be paid. Those who would have high offices, power, wealth, or other greatness, should stop their chase after these things long enough to compute the price that must be paid in each case. It is an impossibility to secure only the good side of life. Life’s cup is a mixed one, and he that is anxious to change his lot for that of another, thinking thereby to gain the desirable and escape the vile,—to escape paying the price for life’s benefits,—must, in the words of the poet Tupper, take,— “Poverty, with largeness of heart; or a full purse,
with a sordid spirit;
Wisdom, in an ailing body; or a common mind,
with health:
Godliness, with man’s scorn; or the welcome of
the mighty, with guilt:
Beauty, with a fickle heart; or plainness of face,
with affection.
For so hath Providence determined, that a man
shall not easily discover
Unmingled good or evil, to quicken his envy or
abhorrence.”
The first murder recorded in history (Genesis 4) was primarily due to the fact that Cain, the first murderer, had endeavored to secure something for nothing. Instead of conforming to the requirements of the sacrificial system, which called for the sacrifice of “the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof,” as an “offering unto the Lord,” Cain imagined that he could secure the approval of the Lord by offering something which would cost him less than “the firstling of his flock and of the fat thereof.” Accordingly, to obtain, in exchange for the divine blessing, approval, and forgiveness, he offered to the Lord an offering “of the fruit of the ground.” Abel, on the contrary, conformed strictly to the directions given respecting sacrifices to the Lord, and the record says that “the Lord had respect unto Abel and his offering: but unto Cain and to his offering He had not respect.” The result was that “Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.” He became filled with jealousy, which finally ripened into hatred and the murder of his righteous brother. The Lord then asked him why he was wroth, and why his countenance had fallen; and then enunciated the following principle: “If thou doest well, shalt thou not have the excellency? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door.” This principle still holds good. That which is required must be done before the benefit desired is received; no shifting about, no cheating, no substitution of a cheaper article, can be allowed. Favors cannot be paid for in such false coin. The law of life is: “Do the thing, and you shall have the power, or the benefit, or the honor; if you refuse, you shall not have it.” And that the reward, or punishment, comes, to a certain degree, in this life, is proved by the record of Cain’s crime. Immediately after its occurrence, the Lord said unto Cain: “And now art thou cursed from the earth. . . . When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth [from this very time] yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth.” The miserly rich man who gloats over his ill-gotten profits should count the cost of his wealth, and remember that the “treasures of wickedness profit nothing” (Prov. 10:2), and that the rich are not exempt from the consequences implied in the412following warnings of Paul: “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” Gal. 6:7. And he who sows but little, reaps but little, even as it is written: “He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.” 2 Cor. 9:6. Those who, by fraud, think to obtain something for nothing, are also sure of their reward; for the prophet Habakkuk pronounces a “woe to him that increaseth that which is not his,” and also “to him that gaineth an evil gain to his house.” Such a man is ever troubled for want of peace and quietness of mind, and with a guilty conscience. Every work of his accuses him, as it were: he cannot gaze upon earth, sea, or sky without being accused of his crimes. Habakkuk understood this principle of compensation in this life; for, speaking of him who is: “a proud man, neither keepeth at home, who enlargeth his desire as hell, and is as death, and cannot be satisfied, but gathereth unto him all nations, and heapeth unto him all people,” he says (chapter 2), “Shall not all these take up a parable against him, and a taunting proverb against him? . . . Shall they not rise up suddenly that shall bite thee, and awake that shall vex thee, and thou shalt be for booties unto them? . . . Thou hast . . . sinned against thy soul.” As he ponders over his evil course, he finds he is unable to escape his accusing conscience, quickened by the sight of every object associated with his evil deeds. For this reason the prophet predicts that “the stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall answer it.” “Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood, and stablisheth a city by iniquity!” It was Paul who also inveighed strongly against this attempt on the part of so many, to get something for nothing. Writing to the Thessalonians (2 Thess. 3:8–12) he commanded “that if any would not work, neither should he eat,” and also said, in regard to his own habit of paying for what he received: “Neither did we eat any man’s bread for naught; but wrought with labor and travail night and day, that we might not be chargeable [under obligation] to any of you.” He then reprimands “some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all,” and commands and exhorts them “by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread.” Knowing full well that “the borrower is servant to the lender” (Prov. 22:7), and not wishing to be under debt or obligations to any, Paul made his living from place to place, as a rule, by his tent-making trade; and his example in paying full price for all that he obtained of good in this life, should be emulated by all Christians. The clerk who flatters himself that he is getting something for nothing by drawing his full pay without rendering to his employer full service therefor, is cheating himself. He is losing day by day what little worth there is left in him: he is withering his faculties of usefulness, allowing his God-given abilities to rust from inactivity; losing by degrees his self-confidence and independent manhood. And, though he realizes it not, he is surely shortening his days of employment. As is eloquently expressed in Hubbard’s “Message to Garcia,” “in every store and factory there is a constant weeding-out process going on. The employer is constantly sending away ‘help’ that have shown their incapacity to further the interests of the business, and others are being taken on. No matter how good times are, this sorting continues, only if times are hard, and work is scarce, the sorting is done finer—but out, and forever out, the incompetent and unworthy go. It is the survival of the fittest. Self-interest prompts every employer to keep the best—those who can carry a message to Garcia. . . . When all the world has gone a-slumming, I wish to speak a word of sympathy for the man who succeeds—the man who, against great odds, has directed the efforts of others, and, having succeeded, finds there’s nothing in it—nothing but bare board and clothes. I have carried a dinner-pail and worked for day’s wages, and I have also been an employer of labor, and I know there is something to be said on both sides. There is no excellence, per se, in poverty; rags are no recommendation; and all employers are not rapacious and high-handed, any more than all poor men are virtuous. My heart goes out to the man who does his work when the ‘boss’ is away as well as when he is at home. And the man who, when given a letter for Garcia, quietly takes the missive, without asking any idiotic questions, and with no lurking intention of chucking it into the nearest sewer, or of doing aught else but deliver it, never gets ‘laid off,’ nor has to go on a strike for higher wages. Civilization is one long, anxious search for just such individuals. Anything such a man asks shall be granted; his kind is so rare that no employer can afford to let him go. He is wanted in every city, town, and village,—in every office, shop, store, and factory. The world cries out for such: he is needed, and needed badly.” In his relations to God, however, man is obliged to receive from his Creator everything for nothing—for the ample reason that all that man is and has, is God-given to him, moment by moment. And though God does give to man, and require of him, in return, a faith that is productive of good works, still man, even were he perfect, would ever be a debtor to Him who gave him life, and showers his pathway with free and countless blessings. Less futile would it be for one to attempt to empty the Atlantic Ocean with a thimble, than to try to repay the Father of all for His gifts. But in his relations to his fellow beings, man is admonished (Rom. 13:8) to “owe no man anything, but to love one another.” Therefore, it becomes all persons, whether Christians or not, to cheerfully submit to the inevitable work-decree of the Infinite: “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread.” Those alone are happy and contented, in this world, who are willing to cease the vain endeavor to get something for nothing; who are willing to abandon the attempt “to leap to heights that were made to climb,” to secure the gain without the getting; who are, in short, willing to pay the full price (though not necessarily in cash) of the benefits they receive from their fellow men. And the more of such people there are in this world, the happier will it be. Those who seek contentment in any other way are engaged in the hopeless task of twisting a rope of sand.