THE LABORER IS WORTHY OF HIS HIRE.
By M. Wood
This language deserves more than a passing notice. This statement of the Saviour’s is of so much importance that God saw proper to have it recorded upon the page of his holy Book for our profit. It seems from personal observation that the world at large are becoming careless upon this point, and that they lightly regard the rights of their fellow-beings, often withholding from the laborer his hard-earned wages. Even professed Christians, and some who profess to be waiting for the coming of the Lord, need to reform upon this loose way of dealing with their brethren. The laborer is worthy of his hire. Christ, with his great heart of love, could not endure the thought of sending his disciples forth into the vineyard wholly dependent upon the bounties of a cold and merciless world. He gave them to understand that the laborer is worthy of his hire. Minister or missionary, or whoever has given himself to the work of God in any capacity whatever, is worthy of his hire, or support. Yet there are instances in which, either from a lack of interest, or from carelessness on the part of those who have pledged themselves to the support of the cause, the laborers have been left unprovided for. Such things ought not to be. We should redeem our pledges made to God. “Cursed is he that doeth the work of the Lord deceitfully [margin, negligently].” If in our temporal affairs we should thus disregard our obligations, what would be the result? Financial ruin would surely follow. Where we spend one hour meditating upon the work of God, we spend hours, yes, days and weeks, of hard, sober thought studying and planning how best to meet our liabilities and save our reputation. We heed the apostle’s injunction to “be diligent in business,” so far as secular matters are concerned. Now, why not be as diligent and as zealous in spiritual matters as we are in our temporal affairs? Why make the cause of God a secondary consideration, when we know that eternal life is at stake? When we pledge ourselves to the support of God’s cause, it is equivalent to giving our bond. It is a business transaction between God and ourselves. Our vows and our pledges are recorded in the courts of Heaven; and the pledge, or bond, which we have given to the great God, stands against us until fully redeemed. The day of grace is almost past. Let us redeem our pledges, brethren, lest they be protested, and in the final settlement of accounts, we be found wanting. In the counting-room or upon the farm, in the desk or attending to the most commonplace matters pertaining to the closing work of the gospel, the principle laid down by our Lord in Luke 10: 7 is applicable until the close of time. So long as the laborer fulfills his part of the contract, we are morally bound to render to him his due to the utmost farthing. God has said, “Thou shalt not defraud thy neighbor, neither rob him; the wages of him that is hired shall not abide with thee all night until the morning.” Lev. 19: 13. James says, “The hire of the laborers, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth; and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth.” Often through carelessness and neglect, not through a desire to withhold from another what is rightfully his, the laborer becomes an object of charity, whereas if we would practice the teachings of God’s word, and heed the admonitions of his Spirit, we should render unto “Cæsar, the things which are Cæsar’s; and unto God, the things that are God’s.” M. Wood.