Article August 15, 1925 Issue

What is Worth While?

MATTIE L. JOHNSON

The life of Jesus should answer the question, What is worth while? He who gave to the world that matchless digest of divine law, the Sermon on the Mount, and then throughout his three years' marvelous ministry demonstrated its every precept in full for the salvation of men, knew beyond all others what makes life worth living. The shepherd king of Israel, blessed with an abundance of material things, also realized that God's thoughts are worth infinitely more than all the worldly riches: he sang, "How precious ... are thy thoughts unto me, O God!"

It should be each one's holy purpose to reflect the nature of divinity as exemplified in spiritual manhood and womanhood. It is our business to listen for and to obey God's message to His children. How is this to be accomplished? First there must be right desire; then unselfish seeking for the good, the pure, and the true; then steadfast holding to the truth until it is realized. The process is simple, but the demands are divine, and accord entirely with Jesus' words, "Be ye therefore perfect."

Many mixed motives enter into the human desire to succeed; it is a complex thing, this ambition of mortals. The modern business man, through his desire to become successful, expects as a result of his efforts to acquire the means to secure all that material gain can bring to his door. He expects to provide himself and his family with a beautiful home and surroundings; he would educate his children as befits his social position; he would travel much at home and abroad,—all this perhaps simply to prove that he has made a success of his life! But what real benefit can come of merely material motion, which but illustrates the words of Jesus, "For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?"

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