The Path of Duty. 2

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean unto your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths" (Proverbs 3:5,6). Confer not with flesh and blood, for if you consult your Christian friends the probability is that no two will offer the same counsel, and you will be more perplexed than ever. Go to the Lord Himself, acknowledge His Proprietorship over you, mix faith with this promise of His, turn it into definite and earnest prayer and expect an answer of peace from Him, trusting Him for the same.

Consider the case of Eliezer in Genesis 24. His master bade him journey from Canaan to Mesopotamia in search for a wife for his son Isaac. If ever a man was assigned a difficult task it was this one. But his duty was clear, for obedience to his master required him to enter upon this quest. Accordingly we find him setting out on his mission. But observe how he acted. When he arrived at the outskirts of the city of Nahor, he made his camels to kneel down by the well, and then he said "O Lord, God of my master Abraham, give me success today, and show kindness to my master Abraham" (v. 12). It was the hour when the maidens came to draw water from the well, so Eliezer asked the Lord to give him a sign whereby he might "know" which of them was the appointed wife for Isaac (v. 14). And the Lord did not fail him—but honored his faith. In the sequel we find Eliezer bowed in worship and saying, "Blessed be the Lord God of my master Abraham, who has not left destitute my master of His mercy and His truth—I being in the way [of duty] the Lord led me" (v. 27). And that is recorded for our instruction and encouragement.

Do not act hastily or impulsively, for God says "He who believes shall not make haste" (Isaiah 28:16). But some reader may reply "I am obliged to make a prompt decision in the matter before me." Even so, if you have been living as becomes a child of God, there ought to be no difficulty, "the light of the body is the eye—if therefore your eye is single, your whole body shall be full of light" (Matthew 6:22). That is a figurative way of saying, if you have an undivided heart, if your dominant aim is the pleasing of God—then your mind will be illumined and able to perceive clearly the path of duty. Perplexity is occasioned by conflicting interests swaying me, when opposing motives seek to actuate me, when the pleasing of SELF comes into competition with the glorifying of God. Keep steadily in view that the thing you have to decide is not which is the easier or most congenial path—the right hand or the left—but which is my duty?

Perhaps you reply—but that is my difficulty—how am I to decide what is my duty? Well, ponder the negative side—it is never right to do wrong, and therefore it can never be the Christian’s duty to do anything which God’s Word forbids, nor can it ever be his duty to enter into any position which would prevent him doing what Scripture enjoins. For example, if one alternative is going into debt—my duty is plain, for Scripture says "Owe no man anything" (Romans 13:8); or if it is to enter into a partnership or any other union with an unbeliever, God’s Word forbids it, "Be not unequally yoked together" (2 Cor. 6:14); or if a Christian mother is ordered to enter a position wherein she could no longer care for her little ones, her duty would be clear, for "train up a child in the way he should go" (Proverbs 22:6) is a privilege and responsibility which she cannot delegate unto others.

But suppose the Government should demand from me what is against my conscience, does not Scripture itself bid me "be subject unto the higher powers?" God’s people most certainly ought to be models of law-abiding citizens—righteous and merciful in all dealings with their fellows, doing unto others as they would be done by. They are Divinely enjoined to "render tribute to whom tribute is due," and thus to pay their taxes promptly and unmurmuringly. Nevertheless they must ever remember God’s claims upon them, and never allow the fear of man to prevent their meeting His claims. We are to submit unto the Government so long as its requirements do not clash with the demands of God—but no further. When the king of Babylon issued a decree that all in his dominions should fall down and worship the golden image he had set up—the three Hebrews rightly refused to do so; and when a later king issued an idolatrous edict, Daniel disregarded it; and in each case God vindicated their fidelity to Him. It is never right to do wrong—no matter who commands it—or what may be the emergency.

Next Part The Path of Duty. 3

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