How to Live a Holy Life, page 39 by Charles Ebert Orr
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think not of the morrow.
"Let's cast our bread upon the flood, In many days to gather, But then at eve hold out the hand For present blessings rather. We hide the seed deep in the ground And watch the closing furrow, When, lo! the field's already white, Not waiting for the morrow.
"The sower and the reaper both May now rejoice together, For what they sow and gather in Is fruit that lives forever. The saint rejoices evermore, E'en in the midst of sorrow; He knows the weeping's but a night, Joy cometh on the morrow."
Man was made to labor. He is so constituted that he can not find true rest and enjoyment in idleness. How much the Bible says about good works! We are "created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." Jesus purifies unto "himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." We are told by the scriptures to "be careful to maintain good works" to "be not weary in well-doing," and to "do good unto all men." Time is given us to spend in usefulness, not in idleness. Money lost may be regained, but a moment never.
As Christians we have the mind of Jesus. With such a mind we can not be contented unless we are doing the will of God and making the proper use of the moments he gives us. Mind is the same quality whether it be in Jesus, in angels, or in men, and it is governed by the same laws. It is true that after man's transgression he was told that in the sweat of his face he should eat bread, but this does not imply that the disposition to labor is a result of the fall. The disposition to labor that we find in man's constitution is not the fruit of corruption in his nature, but is a part of his original constitution. We find this disposition in the mind of angels. They are ministering spirits. They are doing the will of God. How often we read in the Book that tells of heaven how angels have visited this transitory world of ours on errands of help, mercy, and consolation. They have closed the mouths of lions, opened prison doors, s