Other Reasons for Rejoicing
By J. C. Rogers
“Thou shalt remember the Lord thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth.” In Israel the first special time of rejoicing each year was at the beginning of harvest. At its end another such time was set apart. This was called the “feast of ingathering,” or the “feast of tabernacles.” Like the other, this was a time for universal rejoicing. “Thou shalt observe the feast of tabernacles . . . after that thou hast gathered in thy corn and thy wine; and thou shalt rejoice in thy feast, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite, the stranger, and the widow, and the fatherless.” All these could rejoice, because none were forgotten by the Lord nor by those blessed with plenty. “He doth execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow, and loveth the stranger, in giving him food and raiment. Love ye therefore the stranger.” This leaves no question as to how our love to widows, strangers, and the fatherless shall be expressed. See Deuteronomy 8, 10, 16. None were to appear before the Lord empty. It was not safe, in a spiritual or temporal sense, to do so. “Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the Lord thy God which he hath given thee.” A year ago this summer a brother’s large field of beans promised but little. “If the Lord doth bless that field, and the beans turn out well, there’ll be an offering for God’s cause,” he said. The tide turned, and this field harvested bountifully, surpassing everything in the neighborhood. A call came for needed means, but his vow was deferred. This year, I am told, the large acreage of beans on that same farm is almost a failure. “Ye have sown much, and bring in little.” All the offerings of Israel were given to support and extend God’s work in the earth. Our Father, having given us all the good things we possess, asks us to return to him the best, to show that our hearts are with him, and that we are seeking first the kingdom of God. “All the best of the oil, and all the best of the wine, and of the wheat, the first fruits of them which they shall offer unto the Lord,”—these it is our privilege to give with rejoicing hearts willingly. When we begin to carry out the spirit and the letter of God’s plan, it will not be long before the gospel of healing from sin and sickness shall have done its blessed work. Then Christ, our Lord, will come.