Individual Effort

It is in the power of every woman as well as every man to be a light to the world. Such home workers are needed in every church, and these home missionaries, if faithful to their great trust, can do a great amount of good. God will require at their hands the souls of those who live right at their own doors. With much prayer, with humility, you should seek, brethren and sisters, to know more and more of the truth, that you may be able to impart it to others. Train the mind, bind about the thoughts, center upon Heaven, and upon heavenly things, and strive to gain the confidence of your neighbors. Visit them, read the Scriptures with them, and suggest a season of prayer. It will require greater humility, greater faith, greater piety, than many of our church members possess, to do this work, but it will accomplish good. Be «wise as serpents and harmless as doves.» Seek to have your instruction easy and simple, and at the same time thorough, so that those who are not familiar with the truth, will understand and comprehend it. You can at least sow the seed in the best way possible; it may fall into good ground.

We have few home missionaries, because there are so few church members who are connected with Christ. There ought to be far more personal labor than there now is. This work will accomplish much more than pulpit labor. Satan knows this, and he tries to keep the mind employed with unnecessary things. The time that mothers spend in the ornamentation of their own, and their children’s clothing might profitably be spent in searching the Scriptures, in prayer, and in preparation to do this kind of labor. They should thus be laying upon the foundation, gold, silver, and precious stones, material that will be lasting as eternal ages. The fires of the last day cannot consume this kind of work, for it is impossible to destroy it. But your endless stitching, your ornamentation to gratify pride, your needless preparation of dishes for your tables, to gratify the appetite, is laying upon the foundation, hay, wood and stubble. If your own souls escape, your life work is lost. You obtain no reward. But the question is, Will these souls be saved, who have spent their time in nurturing vanity and pride in the hearts of their children? The great day will reveal their work, of what sort it is. What does God think of my work? should be asked by every soul. Am I doing those things only which are necessary for the decency, and comfort, and for the religious good of my family? These questions will be asked at the Judgment, and why not put them to the soul now?

Let not self be fostered. Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, else moral feeling will be blunted, and the sense of duty clouded, the response of conscience more feeble, and unsanctified self-reliance will dictate and control. May God help you to secure a clear title to an inheritance among the sanctified. Do not wait for a more favorable time. Whose time are you using? It is God’s. He gave it to you to use for this very purpose. You are not to put business first and your soul’s interest second; but you are to be doers of the words of Christ. «Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all necessary things shall be added.» See that your life is hid with Christ in God before you enter into any business. Pray, believe, take Jesus with you, and he will guide your efforts; and if success attends them, do not become puffed up and think it is yourself that should receive the praise. It was God who worked in you to will and to do his good pleasure. You are not to take one atom of the glory; but you are to glorify God, and try to help everyone engaged in his work to understand that the secret of success is in Christ Jesus. Shall we become just such workers as he would have us become? Shall we have a firm hold from above? Shall we be true to God in every place, to co-operate with him? God help us is my earnest prayer. Satan will throw around us his influence to inspire us with ideas, to supply our motives, and lead us to have increased attachment to the world, by blunting our moral sensibilities, and by confirming us in selfishness and self-esteem. We need a great increase of spiritual perception, in order that we may not be ignorant of Satan’s devices.

The opportunities and privileges granted will lose their value, unless we make haste to improve them. We should be constantly moving toward the light, co-operating with God in the plan of salvation. As the grace of God attracts us, we are to advance toward the light, and not make our chances of co-operating with God less and less by moving away from him.

Who will faint now in the field of labor? Let every man and every woman be ambitious to win from the Master the benediction of «well done, thou good and faithful servant.» The great day will reveal the character of every man’s work. Let all labor unselfishly in the vineyard of the Lord. Let them sow in faith and in tears, putting up the earnest prayer that there will be a harvest of souls to reap. Will all go to work now for time and for eternity? Those who cherish self-esteem and pride can make no headway in this work. Experimental piety is necessary to demonstrate the truth and to show its practical value by its saving influence on the life and character.

We are in need of Bible missionaries; those who have connected themselves with God, and who will examine themselves daily to see if there is not some defect in their character; those who will look into the great looking-glass, God’s law, to see if it does not condemn some practice in which they are indulging. All should bear in mind that it is only those who are without spot or wrinkle who can stand acquitted before God. The temper, the taste, the thoughts, the feelings,—all must be brought to the test of God’s word. This will be serious work for each one of us now; but it will be more serious when the Judgment shall sit, and the books be opened, and the defects of character appear just as they are when every case is decided for life or for death. The weighing of character in the balances of the sanctuary is God’s work, but the close study of the Bible, the bringing up of our characters to God’s standard is our work. Our great danger is of stopping short of full consecration of ourselves to God; of being Christians only in name. God holds us accountable for the great light that shines upon our pathway. He has done all for us that a God could do. He has placed salvation within our reach, and the question for us to decide now is, Will we make the most of these blessings? Mrs. E. G. White. —