The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1916-06-26

Oh our way 70 90 Il ~ af0 pr0oa0H
neglecting some other more inpsre-
tive dnties At our door.
It 10 quite true that our Christian
task includes the whole world. But
1howf BY bringing IL near to us-by
80 unkink the fortunes OF -Ar-otf pec-
pies with ours that their needs be-
come our needa. and their salvation
q summons In our soul that will
not be stflled. My very next duty
may be to give 500 to foreign mis-
sion1. but 1t can only be 30 because
I feel the heathens' need of that
money as clearly as feel the need
of a suit of clothes or q trip to the
seashore for myself; and X ! am not
the common duties of life-if Nave
not trained myself to do the duties
that geographically and sentimentally
lie nearest to hand, my zeal for the
heather will be no more than sound
ing brass and q tinkling symbol.
The great temptation. to which we
are all more or less prone. Ia to inn
agtne that we can serve God best
by doing something out Of the ordin-
airy. That may be true. in a sense, for
those who, are themselves out of the
ordinary-Zfor the Pauls and Luthers
and Careys and Hyingstones of the
world; for big things become little to
the big man But for us ordinary folk
the immediate duty should be the first
duty.
It is the old story Of beginning at
Jerusalem. This does not mean that
we must stop short At Jerusalem. It
did not mean that for the early
church: but doing Its duty ct jar
usalem, the church wAs led slowly but
surely. out beyond the walls to the
IL
Il. no other way to have. sound.
healthy conscience that embraces the
whole world. There 10 no other way
rightly to do big things than rightly to
do the little ones. The gospel task
10 a thing that grows, "flrst tho blade"
etc Duty IL 4 progressive thing. One
leads on to another. DO the duty
that lies to hand" AZ someone has
said, 'and the next duty win already
have become plain to you"
Do your duty heartily to year
family a. unto the Lord, and soon
you win ind yourself doing your duty
to your neighborhood. to your state.
to your nation. to the world. Out OF
duty, duty grows You want to be q
foreign missionary. hut the way II not
clear Then begin by being mis-
sionary at home and either the way
will open up for you to 90 to foreign
lands or you Will frd that God wants
you to serve Him hero In America
rather than in Africa or India. You
want to do social service work? Then
begin With the frst case Of poverty
you meet, and out OF your experience
there q whole LIE proEram will grow.
T7scroughneas OF Work.
But at last we have found our duty
and begun to do It. what next? Our
text tells us this also. We must DO
IL thoroughly, heartily, earnestly.
Whatsoever thy hand fndsth to do,
do II with your might" Z
The old saying that .1f = thing is
worth doing. 1t 10 worth doing well.
is one in which It is impossible to
lay too much stress.
People often complain about lack
Of opportunity when lack of thorough
ness Is the cause OF all their trouble.
The ideal OF efficiency Ia no doubt be-
ing pressed stoo far nowadays. but
there IL great truth In II namely.
that we are, 30 to speak, on our honor
both to God and man to do the best
work Of which we are capable. no
matter how petty and insignificant our
Job may be. To do less than that Ia
to dishonor God and TO rob our fell
lows.
! How much of the worlds time In
mistakes and doing over things that
were not done right IN the beginning.
How many lives have been lost by the
careless inspection OF machinery. care
lessly constructed to begin with! How
many casss OF typhoid have been due
TO moor plumbing. How much money
has been stolen By tfme-servfng clerks
and soldering workmen! How many
fires have been caused By bad Jobs OF
wtrtnge
And even apart from thsss more or
less serious consequences 10 othsrA
there II another reason why we should
do thorough work. II Is because the
quality OF our work reacts on our own
character. You cannot separate the
two
"A man works for his daily bread.
40 he ID The dishonest worker can
scarcely, think. be kenuineiy good
man: for the habit Of flnperfectfon
which ne acquires by doing less than
his best IN shop. factory or held. 10
sure TO lower his ideals ali along tho
long run the shoddy life. Siuvenliness
Of hand slips fYssensibiy but surely into
6oveniinees Of heart and Will.
There are many Ideals in work, but
tho most important OF all - the ideal
OF having an IDEAL II IL not enough
that our work pass the eye Of the boss
or inspector, It must pAss the eye OF
God and our own conscience. I mAy
do inferior work ana Be blamelesa. II
have not the ability to do better;
bus II I have the ability. then every
stroke OF nv chisel or turn Of my
lathe or STROKE OF my pen h lie to
God ana man. The biggest falsehoods
need not be told IN words. They may
~ told In brick and mortar, In iron