Article May 5, 1923 Issue

"The labourer is worthy of his hire"

MAMIE T. JOHNSON

WHEN Jesus sent forth his seventy students to preach and to demonstrate the truths he had taught them, among the instructions he gave them was this: "Into whatsoever house ye enter, ... in the same house remain, eating and drinking such things as they give: for the labourer is worthy of his hire." Moreover, he cautioned them, "Go not from house to house." Evidently they were to begin their work with the duty that lay nearest at hand. That done, they were to accept such things as were given in return for their services, and to be worthy of their hire. How often we may have read and repeated the above statement, noting only that part of it that has to do with the "hire." The dictionary defines the word "worthy" as "having worth or excellence; possessing merit; valuable; deserving of honor; . . . having adequate worth or value, or a character adapted to make capable, fit, qualified, competent, or the like; . . . fit; suitable." The Apostle Paul gives the following concepts: "Being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, . . . unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness."

To be "worthy of his hire" the worker, whether in office, shop, or home, must strive to incorporate the above-mentioned qualities into his daily work. Do we complain that we are unrecognized, that our efforts are unnoticed, or that we are not receiving our just due? Let us, then, look to it that our services actually possess merit and deserve honor. Are we giving to our work the loyalty of thought and action, the honesty of purpose, and the cheerfulness that we should?

No student of Christian Science who has caught even a glimpse of the glorious truths of our Leader's teachings can fail to give of his best efforts in whatever line of rightful activity he may be engaged. He will know that he is forever in his rightful place, that, as Mrs. Eddy says, God "guides every event of our careers" (Unity of Good, p. 3), and that true worth will bring unto him his own. It is thus that he strives to reflect that Mind "which was also in Christ Jesus." By striving to be "fruitful in every good work," by faithfully performing each task that is ours to do, and by patiently trusting the loving Father, who supplieth all our needs, we shall demonstrate that the laborer is, indeed, "worthy of his hire," and that "no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly."

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