MARCH 9.

Honour the Lord with thy substance.
Proverbs 3:9

 

WE received it from him, and
  we should consecrate it to him.
 
Upon everything that we possess, we may write,
  THIS IS FROM GOD.
 
He gave it to us.
 
He intended it for our good,
  to make us happy and to make us holy.
 
As every mercy comes from him,
  it should lead us back to him.
 
We cannot honour God by hoarding or by wasting;
  neither the miser nor the prodigal honour the Lord.
 
But we may by enjoying and employing.
 
Let us honour the Lord by acknowledging him
  as the author of all we have, and
  by praising him for all we receive.
 
Also, by employing our property in his service,
  for the comfort of his poor and
  the spreading of his truth.
 
Let a portion be separated from the rest,
  a just and becoming portion, and
  let us write up on it, THIS IS FOR GOD.
 
If some professors did so,
  would they not feel ashamed of the quantity or
   of the season when it is set apart?
 
No one selfish, if a professor of religion, can succeed.
 
God hates selfishness in those who professed his name,
  but he “LOVETH A CHEERFUL GIVER.”
 
If we give, let us honour God in doing so;
  let us see to it that our motives are is good;
  that our object is good; and
  that the proportion is good.
 

With my substance I will honour

My Redeemer and my Lord;

Were ten thousand worlds my manor,

All were nothing to his word.

 
James Smith 1849