Are we Doing the Will of God?
By George Tenney
A sense of the importance of the times in which we live should keep this inquiry before our minds. The apostle says, “For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.” From the fact that this was written for the encouragement of those who should be looking for the coming of their Saviour, as a people, we have accepted it as addressed to ourselves, and have taken great comfort and consolation amid our many trials, from the promise, “For yet a little while, and He that shall come will come, and will not tarry.” But we have a duty to perform in doing the will of God, before we shall see the promise fulfilled. Perhaps we have thought that in embracing present truth with all its crosses and reproach we had done the will of God, and had only to walk in it and patiently to wait for Jesus to come. This is not all; for after we shall have done God's will we shall not have to wait for the promise. What the Lord would have us do after we have received the light concerning his word and embraced it with all our hearts, is shown, we think, in Rev. 10:11. Nations are yet in darkness concerning the glorious light which we have seen, and many of our neighbors and kindred are ignorant of its importance, which they must soon learn if they are among Christ's jewels at last. The Lord is providing means for us to employ in this work, which, if used with faith and love, will accomplish great results. The organized movement in distributing books is important among these means. Shall we not be more active, more faithful, and more humble while sowing daily seeds of precious truth, which shall bring forth fruit unto eternal life, that, when the earth is reaped, sheaves may be gathered into the garner of the Lord, from seed which we have sown?