Pay Thy Debt, and Live Thou and Thy Children
By J. M. McLellan
“Pay thy Debt, and Live Thou and Thy Children of the Rest.” 2 Kings iv, 7. THIS is the language of the Bible; and it teaches us the principles of moral honesty, and this sentiment is embodied in the second great commandment by the Son of God. “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” Matt. xxii, 39. If a man loves his neighbor as himself, he will, if he owes him, certainly pay the debt, and if he refuses or will not pay the debt, then he loves himself better than he does his neighbor, and covets that which rightfully and honestly belongs to his neighbor, and in so doing breaks the law of God which says, “Thou shalt not covet . . . any thing that is thy neighbor’s.” Ex. xx, 17. If one man owes another and neglects to pay him, this neglect on the part of the debtor does not release him by any means from the claims of his creditor; for the debt just as much belongs to the creditor as it ever did; and a debtor who thus retains unlawfully the dues of his creditors covets the things that are his neighbor’s; and the debtor who acts upon such a principle as this shows conclusively that he is still in possession of the carnal mind, which is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God neither indeed can be. Rom. viii, 7. This same lesson of moral honesty is also taught by the Son of God in what is called the “Golden Rule:” “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them; for this is the law and the prophets.” Matt. vii, 12. Can those who profess the Third Angel’s Message, and keep the Commandments of God, refuse or neglect to pay for their valuable paper, and at the same time be justified in the sight of God for so doing? I think not, if they are able to pay for it; for all that we have is the Lord’s, and we are our Lord’s stewards, and the Review is the Lord’s, wholly given to the advocacy of his cause. When we therefore neglect to send in the pay to the Office to those who send us the Review weekly, richly laden with present truth, and leave them and others to bear the whole burden of its publication, do we not do very wrong? Certainly. Hear the prophet: “Will a man rob God? yet ye have robbed me; but ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.” Says David, [Ps. 1, 5.] “Gather my saints together unto me: those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.” “Bring ye all the tithes into the store-house that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open unto you the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it.” Mal. iii, 8, 10. We should render unto God the things that are God’s. Matt. xxii, 21. But if there are any that are poor and cannot pay for their paper, yet have an earnest desire to pay for it, let such report themselves to the Office as such; and I believe that our brethren there will send the paper to you with just as much cheerfulness as though you had paid for it. Let us now turn our attention for one moment to the text, “Pay thy debt, and live thou and thy children of the rest.” The person that was thus addressed was a poor widow. Her husband had died, and before his death he had contracted a debt, and he being now dead his creditor came to take her two sons to be bondmen, as their law made provision, [Matt. xviii, 25.] and in her distress and deep anguish of soul she appealed unto Elisha, the prophet of God, and he told her to go and borrow empty vessels not a few. She did as he bade her, and poured out of the full oil-pot into the empty ones until they were all full. “Then she came and told the man of God, and he said, Go sell the oil and pay thy debt, and live thou and thy children of the rest.” These people feared the Lord. They were the Lord’s poor. He loved them and took care of them. The Lord always had, and still has, a special regard for his people. It matters not how poor they are in regard to this world’s goods if they are only rich in faith. Give him your heart, it is all he asks.
J. M. McLELLAN.
Hastings, Sept 9th, 1856.