Testimony Treasures, Volume 1 - Ellen G. White

in advancing the cause of God. If those who have means should realize that
they are accountable to God for every dollar that they expend, their supposed
wants would be much less. If conscience were alive, she would testify of
needless appropriations to the gratification of appetite, of pride, vanity, and
love of amusements, and would report the squandering of the Lord's money,
which should have been devoted to His cause. Those who waste their Lord's
goods will by and by have to give an account of their course to the Master.
A Caution to the Wealthy
If professed Christians would use less of their wealth in adorning the
body and in beautifying their own houses, and would consume less in
extravagant, health-destroying luxuries upon their tables, they could place
much larger sums in the treasury of God. They would thus imitate their
Redeemer, who left heaven, His riches, and His glory, and for our sakes
became poor, that we might have eternal riches. If we are too poor to
faithfully render to God the tithes and offerings that He requires, we are
certainly too poor to dress expensively and to eat luxuriously; for we thus
waste our Lord's money in hurtful indulgences to please and glorify
ourselves. We should inquire diligently of ourselves: What treasure have we
secured in the kingdom of God? Are we rich toward God?
Jesus gave His disciples a lesson upon covetousness. "And He spake a
parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth
plentifully: and he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I
have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do: I will
pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits
and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up
for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto
him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall
those things be, which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure
for himself, and is not rich toward God." Luke 12:16-21.
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