Ready for Either | AdventAI

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Sep 5, 1871

Ready for Either.

An ancient medal has upon it the device of a bullock standing midway between a plow and an altar, and under it this inscription, “Ready for either.”

By a happy thought some missionary association has selected this medal as their emblematic seal, expressive of the true position of those who are called to labor and to suffer in the work of gospel preaching. And indeed, this motto does but express the precise position of the true and faithful servant of God, in whatever field of effort he may be placed. It is not for the Christian to say where he may labor, or how; it is not for him to determine that he will do this, and will not do that. He is not his own; he is bought with a price; and under the obligations of love, and gratitude, and obedience, he is called to hold himself in constant readiness for whatever work may be assigned him by the Lord. If he be called to bear the burden and the yoke; if his life be one of weariness, and drudgery, and toil; if he be restrained from the field of active and perilous service which seems to him grand, and glorious, and exalted; if instead of this, he be called to bear the load of poverty and care, and wearing trial, to endure infirmity, disease, and confinement; all these he must accept with joy.

And if, on the other hand, he covet a quiet life, he may yet be called to stand in the battle’s front, to endure hardships, to face enemies, to fight the good fight of faith, amid a host of furious foes; to lay down his life for his brethren, or to be offered up upon the service and sacrifice of their faith; and even here, with the cross upon his shoulder, and the altar of sacrifice in view, he must never falter, hesitate, or delay. Whatever his position may be, his will must be crossed and surrendered. With the poet, he may have cause to say:— “I would have gone, He bade me stay; I would have toiled, He bade me rest; He broke my will, from day to day, And read my yearnings unexpressed, And then said, ‘Nay.’”

But again, when the chastened spirit has accepted its constant burden, and its lowly lot; when the fires of high ambition have been extinguished, and the lofty aspirations of the heart have been repressed, when at last he comes to think that his quiet state is endurable, and even desirable, then the call may come for him to go forth, forsaking all of his present surroundings, and entering upon new toils, new fields, new crosses, new trials. “Now I would stay, He bids me go; Now I would rest, He bids me toil.”

Our safety, under such circumstances, is to accept the whole at once; to give ourselves entirely to the Lord, to count not our lives dear unto ourselves; to look upon both yoke and altar as our heritage, and in the confidence of living faith, accept them as the tokens of our Father’s love. Ready, thus, for labor or repose, for bearing burdens, or for enduring sorrows, our services shall be accepted of God in this world, and shall not lose their reward. And coming at last to the bound of life, we can say with the apostle, “I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. Henceforth, there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day; and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.” 2 Tim. 4: 6–8.—Sel.