"And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, if God will be with me, and will keep me in the way that I go, and will give bread to eat, and raiment to put on, so that I come again to my father's house in peace, and Jehovah will be my God, then, this stone which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God's house; and of all which Thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto Thee." Gen. 28:20-22.

      Thus Jacob proposed to make a bargain with Jehovah, while fleeing from an outraged and infuriated brother whom he had outwitted in his craft. Both easy and natural in such circumstances to make what seems to the wrong-doer generous proposals for protection. It is no new thing for one to go to God for protection rather than to the man whom has been grossly injured. But the appeals under such conditions are of a piece with the character of him who makes it, and unavailing with God. If you have injured your brother, stop not to make bargains with God, go be reconciled to your brother. We are still living in a commercial world, and the spirit of trade insinuates itself into the phrases of our petitions. "If Jehovah will give me food to eat and raiment to put on, and keep me in the way of safety, and prosper me in all good things, then Jehovah shall be my God, and I will give back a tenth of what he gives me." Be careful how you make bargains with God. Joab fled to the altar of refuge in time of danger, but he found no protection where he had made no provision. Godliness is profitable, if one does not seek it for that purpose. But the motive of Jacob was not an aspiration in that direction. He was one of those characters whose religious conception takes its color from his own selfish demands. He will do anything in his way that God demands if God will pay him well for it He will go to the house of the Lord if it is made the most attractive place and the great crowds go there; he will worship and praise God it the services are not too [66] religious; he will give to the church if the Lord will make a big supper and give him something good to eat; he will never miss a prayer meeting, if the church patronizes his business; he will preach or pray, if his devotions help him to be more popular with the people or help him up to the legislative halls. "If God will give bread to eat, and raiment to put on, and keep me in the way so that I get great gain why, then, Jehovah shall be my God." So much praise so much gain; so much worship so much profit!!

      Why not? Is not that what God is for--to serve the people? Why should I serve Him if He does not pay me for my service? I am sometimes reminded of a little boy who was told by his mother it he was bad God would not forgive him. "I thought that was what God was for." It is a deplorable fact that many go to the house of God and leave their hearts at home, in the ledger, or allow it to go off on a pleasure excursion. It is not "presenting the body a thing sacrifice to God" when the heart is somewhere else. This may be the case with many in our assemblies: "you draw nigh unto me with your lips but your hearts are far from me." If you discover at the moment of your offering of the "fruit of your lips" that your heart is not in the offering, break suddenly off and send a prayer to God for your heart. "Out of the heart are the issues of life." And out of the heart the mouth speaketh the praises of God. What "God has joined together let not man" nor the devil "put asunder."

      It has been reported that a heathen after hearing the missionary tell the story of the Savior, hastened to destroy his idol, saying, "Lo these many years I have worshipped thee and it has profited me nothing, I will try the God Jesus." The devil was speaking the truth for many men when he demanded of Jehovah, "Doth Job serve God for naught?" It was his opinion that all men were like himself. If there was the offer of a great money salvation in the gospel, there would be more converts to Christianity. It was once thought by many of the people in the Savior's time that he was a bread-king, come to reign and feed the people! Hence thousands sought Jesus and more bread. It would seem that the heart, conscience and mind, had turned to stomach.

      Neither is the highest type of devotion produced through fear--neither fear of God nor the devil. It is true, "the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom," but it is also the truth that "perfect love casts out all fear." Fear is only a means to the end, which is love. The fear which ends in fear leaves man just where it finds him--in bondage. Love is both a means and an end. In the animal love is a means, in the human heart it is both means and end. The mother love for off-spring in the animal dies out when the young becomes able to take care of itself, not so in the human parent--it is an end within itself. Neither is hope the highest and strongest motive in the service of God. Both hope and feat have important functions in all spheres of life. It is perfectly natural and legitimate to hope for the [67] better things and fear the worst. There cannot be too much of either. But there is another element better and more pleasing to both God and man. It is the very thing for which God exists and man was created; namely, love. It is the most potent factor for peace, joy and happiness in the family, and has more power to hold one steadfast in the paths of virtue than any other consideration. It is a great restraining power from evil. It is no discredit to virtue to say that many are kept in the paths of virtue and purity, because they know that any deviations from it would grieve and distress those whom they love. There are many who would do anything and suffer anything rather than cause a pang of sorrow to parents' hearts. Are there not many who have been kept back from crime by thinking of loved ones at home? There are doubtless, multitudes of young men and women--but not as many as there should be--who find the power to resist temptations, in the remembrance of a mother's love in the time of sore trial. The poet makes one of his characters say to his intended companion just at the threshold of the wedded life, "If I did not love virtue more than I love you, I would not be worthy of you.", But that is not the conception of the many. There are thousands, perhaps, who are helped on in the straight path of virtue not for the sake of virtue and the dread of humiliation, but for the sake of loved ones and the effect a wrong course would have on the hearts of those who loved and trusted them. No doubt many a young man sent forth from his country home into the blandishments of city life to make his way in the world, has been kept sober, chaste, honest, only by the constraining love of those whom he has left behind. Love keeps him from doing many things that would make a sister blush, or the father avoid the mention of his name. He could throw himself into the evil current of temptation that is sweeping away so many noble young men, if it were not for the remembrance of loved ones. One that had forgotten this love for the moment, plunged into the most violent dissipation, but on awakening was filled with remorse and despair, and that not so much on account of the degradation it had brought upon himself, but the grief, dishonor and sorrow it brought upon the other members of the family.

      I have spoken of love as a restraining influence, but it is equally powerful in promoting what is best in man. What sacrifices will it not make for those whom we love? What labor and hardships it will endure and what sufferings it will bear for loved ones! There are many young men and women to be found--for which I thank God and good parents--in the world, who endure the greatest privation, and toil from morning till late at night, not so much for themselves, but for an invalid mother and dependent brothers and sisters. The lesson for parents is: make home attractive and redolent with love, and when our children go out to try the discipline of a father's wisdom and a mother's love, they may have in their trials and temptations the help that comes from such homes.

      "That old hearthstone was watched by the eyes that are [68] closed in death; and they who have gone out into the rough world visit it in their prayers and their tears a thousand times, and its loving memories hold them more than all else in earth. Whether here or in heaven, a mother's love is still their choicest treasure, and a father's example and counsel their guiding star. And when, one by one, grandsire and babe, and father and mother, and brother and sister, all have gone away from the old homestead, and passed over the river to the city of God, heaven will be no strange place to them: they had it here."

["Serving God for Pay." Word and Work 9 (February 1916): 66-69.]

      The electronic version of W. J. Brown's "Serving God for Pay" has been produced from microfilm of Word and Work for 1916.

      Pagination in the electronic version has been represented by placing the page number in brackets following the last complete word on the printed page. Inconsistencies in spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and typography have been retained; however, corrections have been offered for misspellings and other accidental corruptions. Emendations are as follows:

            Printed Text [ Electronic Text
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
 p. 66:     Gen. 28:32. [ Gen. 28:20-22.
 p. 67:     Jesus.' ' The devil [ Jesus." The devil
 p. 68:     parent's hearts. [ parents' hearts.
 p. 69:     theiyr tears [ their tears
 

      Addenda and corrigenda are earnestly solicited.

Ernie Stefanik
Derry, PA

Created 1 February 2002.
Updated 6 July 2003.