Written by: John Sernaque
Stewardship
CS - Counsels on Stewardship (1940) Chapter 10—A Call to Greater Earnestness
Subordinate Every Earthly Interest
My dear brethren and sisters,
I speak to you in words of love and tenderness. Every earthly interest must be made subordinate to the great work of redemption. Remember that in the lives of the followers of Christ must be seen the same devotion, the same subjection to God’s work of every social claim and every earthly affection, that was seen in His life. God’s claims must ever be made paramount. “He that loveth father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me.” Christ’s life is our lesson book. His example is to inspire us to put forth untiring, self-sacrificing effort for the good of others.... {CS 52.2}
Every power of God’s servants is to be kept in continual exercise to bring many sons and daughters to God. In His service there is to be no indifference, no selfishness. Any departure from self-denial to self-indulgence, any relaxation of earnest supplication for the Holy Spirit’s working, means so much power given to the enemy. Christ is reviewing His church. How many there are whose religious life is their own condemnation! {CS 53.1}
God demands that which we do not give,—unreserved consecration. If every Christian had been true to the pledge made on accepting Christ, so many in the world would not have been left to perish in sin. Who will answer for the souls who have gone to the grave unprepared to meet their Lord? Christ offered Himself as a complete sacrifice in our behalf. How earnestly He worked to save sinners! How untiring were His efforts to prepare His disciples for service! But how little we have done! And the influence of the little that we have done has been terribly weakened by the neutralizing effect of what we have left undone, or undertaken and never brought to completion, and by our habits of listless indifference. How much we have lost by failing to press forward to accomplish our God-given work! As professed Christians, we ought to be appalled by the outlook.—The Review and Herald, December 30, 1902. {CS 53.2}
The work of redemption is top priority. It is more important than father is, mother, brother, sister, husband, wife, sons and daughters. This work is forefront- to bring as many people as possible to God. This work is not to stop. We are to deny self for the good of others, lest Satan gets his hold on them. Christ Jesus has prepared us for the work in helping to save souls, lest they go to the grave without Christ in their hearts because of our indifference. If we all strive to save souls with the same devotion as Christ, we will help in hastening His second coming. As faithful stewards, let us all keep true to our pledge made to Christ so none will perish in sin.
Dear Father, God almighty,
We give You thanks and praise for using us as Your coworkers. As faithful stewards of all that You have given us, we pray that we remain diligent in the work of saving souls. We pray that none will perish in sin so that they can enter into the Kingdom of heaven. We pray that You keep a hedge around us to keep us from all the evils and temptations of this world. We pray for Your continued provisions that we may further the work You have prepared us for. We are sorry if we have been indifferent to the need of others. Forgive us of our sins and keep us faithful in our stewardship duties. In the name of Christ Jesus, we pray. Amen.
