THE LORD’S VINEYARD by Lenna Iselin

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jun 4, 1901

THE LORD’S VINEYARD.

By Lenna Iselin

MRS. LENNA ISELIN. (Spring Bluff, Wis.)

“Why stand ye here all the day idle?” “Go work to-day in my vineyard!” These words are sharp and imperative, and should pierce the heart of every idler in the Master’s vineyard. God has given “to every man his work;” not that He is unable to furnish workers from the corps of heaven, but it is for man’s spiritual good to put away self, and work for others. We have often heard the remark from visitors, when asked to dine, “I haven’t worked enough to gain an appetite.” So it is with the idler in the Master’s vineyard; he has not worked enough to acquire an appetite for the bread of life, so he loses the nourishment necessary to a healthy, energetic Christian. Show me an idler, and I will show you an individual whose spirituality is at a low ebb.

Work being necessary to Christian welfare, God has given talents “to every man according to his several ability.” To some He has given more than to others; but He requires the one to whom He has given least—one talent—to double its value. Every man will be rewarded according to his works.

The Lord has planted a vineyard here on the earth. The vines have become one mass of confusion. The Lord has placed workers in this vineyard, to bring order out of confusion, and start the clinging tendrils in the right direction, where they will find support. Every professed Christian should be a worker; but alas! how many idlers are found among them!

We may have only a small corner in this vineyard,—perhaps only the neighborhood in which we live; but the smaller the corner, the more faithfully we should till it, going over the ground again and again. If every one of us had been faithful workers in our own neighborhoods, the world would have been warned, and we should now be in possession of the promised inheritance.

But, says one, “I do not see what I can do; if I were a minister or a Bible worker, I could do a great deal of good.” When we read the words, “Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world,” are we willing that they should apply to ministers and Bible workers only? —Ah, no! we desire to be included; but we cannot be unless we are among those who work for Christ.

There are a great many things we can do, if we watch for opportunities. We can loan a book or paper, speak a word of comfort, visit the sick, and above all, live a consistent Christian life before our neighbors. It is the small things that make up the sum of life. If we bring one sinner to Christ, and he, in turn, brings others, and so on to the end, great good will be accomplished. “Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way, shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.” James 5: 20.

There may be those around us who desire to live a better life; and a word spoken in due season may cause them to decide in favor of the truth. On the other hand, if we neglect to point out the way of life, and they are lost, are we innocent in the sight of heaven? Let us read Eze. 3: 18, 19: “When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life: the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.”

The Lord regards the home as the choicest spot in His vineyard; it contains the tenderest shoots, which are easily affected by surrounding influences. If started right, the little tendrils will cling to their support as fast as they are formed, giving the vine a strong foundation when it is old, so that the fiercest tempest is unable to tear it away. But alas! how many parents are idlers in this corner of the vineyard,—small though it be! How many give no heed to the tender, clinging vines, but allow them to run in any direction, clinging to low shrubs, when they might have had a firm basis to rest upon! Parents, God has left this small spot in His vineyard in your care. He holds you accountable for the way you work it.

Let us arouse ourselves and work; for soon “the night cometh, when no man can work.” We shall then see the golden opportunities that we have missed; but it will be too late for regrets. “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”