“The Lord knows the days of the upright, and their inheritance shall be forever. They shall not be ashamed in the evil time, and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied.” Psalm 37:18, 19.TEd 85.2

God has given in His Word a picture of Job, a prosperous man—one whose life was in the truest sense a success, a person whom both heaven and earth delighted to honor. Of his experiences Job himself says:TEd 85.3

“Just as I was in the days of my prime,
When the friendly counsel of God was over my tent;
When the Almighty was yet with me,
When my children were around me; ...
When I went out to the gate by the city,
When I took my seat in the open square,
The young men saw me and hid,
And the aged arose and stood;
The princes refrained from talking,
And put their hand on their mouth;
The voice of the nobles was hushed.”
Job 29:4, 5; 7-10.
See also Job 31:32; 29:21-25.TEd 85.4

“The blessing of the Lord makes one rich, and He adds no sorrow with it.” Proverbs 10:22.TEd 85.5

The Bible shows also the result of a departure from right principles in our dealing both with God and with one another. To those who are entrusted with His gifts but indifferent to His claims, God says: “Consider how you have fared. You have sown much, and harvested little: you eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill; you clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; and you that earn wages, earn wages to put them into a bag with holes.” Haggai 1:5, 6, NRSV.TEd 85.6

“Will anyone rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you say, ‘How are we robbing You?’ In your tithes and offerings!” Malachi 3:8.TEd 86.1

The accounts of every business, the details of every transaction, pass the scrutiny of unseen auditors, agents of Him who never compromises with injustice, never overlooks evil, never palliates wrong. “There is no darkness nor shadow of death where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves.” Job 34:22.TEd 86.2

Against all evildoers God’s law utters condemnation. They may disregard that voice, they may seek to drown its warning, but in vain. It follows them, and makes itself heard. It destroys their peace. If unheeded, it pursues them to the grave. It bears witness against them at the judgment. A quenchless fire, it finally consumes soul and body.TEd 86.3

“What will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life?” Mark 8:36, 37, NRSV.TEd 86.4

This is a question that demands consideration by every parent, every teacher, every student—by every human being, young or old. No scheme of business or plan of life can be sound or complete that embraces only the brief years of this present life and makes no provision for the unending future. Let the young be taught to take eternity into their reckoning. Teach them to choose the principles and seek the possessions that are enduring—to lay up for themselves that “treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches nor moth destroys.” Luke 12:33.TEd 86.5

All who do this are making the best possible preparation for life in this world. All who lay up treasure in heaven will find their life on earth enriched and ennobled.TEd 86.6

“Godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.” 1 Timothy 4:8.TEd 86.7

The Tithe Is the Lord’s

Chapter 16—Bible Biographies