Written by: John Sernaque
Stewardship
CS - Counsels on Stewardship (1940) Chapter 10—A Call to Greater Earnestness A Call for Consecrated Families
God calls for personal effort from those that know the truth. He calls for Christian families to go into communities that are in darkness and error, to go into foreign fields, to become acquainted with a new class of society, and to work wisely and perseveringly for the cause of the Master. To answer this call, self-sacrifice must be experienced. {CS 55.4}
While many are waiting to have every obstacle removed, souls are dying without hope and without God in the world. Many, very many, for the sake of worldly advantage, for the sake of acquiring knowledge of the sciences, will venture into pestilential regions, and will go into countries where they think they can obtain commercial advantage; but where are the men and women who will change their location, and move their families into regions that are in need of the light of the truth, in order that their example may tell upon those who shall see in them the representatives of Christ? {CS 56.1}
The Macedonian cry is coming from every quarter of the world, and men are saying, “Come over, ... and help us,” and why is there not a decided response? Thousands ought to be constrained by the Spirit of Christ to follow the example of Him who has given His life for the life of the world. Why decline to make decided, self-denying efforts, in order to instruct those who know not the truth for this time? The Chief Missionary came to our world, and He has gone before us to show us the way in which we should work. No one can mark out a precise line for those who would be witnesses for Christ. {CS 56.2}
To be a true worker for Christ, we must leave our comfort zone if we are to reach the fields where the gospel is needed. There are regions in the world where the people do not have missionaries proclaiming the everlasting gospel. These souls are being missed and are not given the opportunity to know Jesus. God is calling us to make the effort and self-sacrifice to bring the truth to these people. We cannot wait until all our circumstances are perfect. The time to act is now. Christ Jesus, our great exemplar, came before us to show us the way we should work. Our goal is to bring Christ to those souls who are dying, that none should perish but have everlasting life.
Our kind and gracious Father,
We come before You in thanksgiving, praise, and prayer. We thank You for providing for all our needs. We pray that we may receive Your strength and courage to go forward as You have instructed us to do. That we may go into the regions where Your people have not been given the opportunity to know You. That if they come to know You, that none will perish but have everlasting life. This is the work for us to do and we thank You for entrusting the plan of salvation to us. We thank You for being our great exemplar. We thank You and praise You, in the name of Christ Jesus, we pray. Amen.
