MR No. 608—Counsels on Hoarding Resources

The gifts of God both of mind and body are to be brought into the service of Christ. We need to understand their value in order that we may use them in such a way that the Master may not meet with loss. We rob the Lord's treasury when we spend money needlessly, and fail to put it at His command. God has not designed that thousands of pounds should be locked up in banks or in investments, but that they should be put to a wise use.—Letter 99, 1895. (To O. A. Olsen, May 7, 1895.)8MR 305.1

O how I long to see His work advancing as rapidly as it should be advancing! If only we could put into circulation some of the means lying idle in banks and invested in unnecessary houses and lands, what a blessing it would be to the cause! How much more quickly the light of present truth would be diffused throughout the world!—Letter 109, 1902. (To G. B. Starr, June 12, 1902.)8MR 305.2

We are too far advanced in this world's history to indulge in ease and idleness. And none should think to hoard their means for future years, but let them invest their means to create new interests in places where the need of truth is felt. If all the professed followers of Christ had followed this course, great changes would have been wrought in our cities.—Letter 96, 1911. (To Sister Gravelle, December 29, 1911.)8MR 305.3

My soul is burdened and distressed, because of the way in which the work of our cause in _____ has in some respects been managed for the past three years. It has been laid out before me that there has been a lack of spiritual discernment....8MR 306.1

The men composing the Conference Committee should be men of ability. They are called by God to take their place in the work, ... to build up the cause of God in right lines.8MR 306.2

It should not be the chief consideration of conference officers to collect and save up money, for then the real work of the conference, the salvation of souls, will become a matter of secondary importance. Our people should never be permitted to lose sight of a world shrouded in darkness, waiting for the light of the gospel message.8MR 306.3

What a change would have been seen in this conference, if all its laborers, with truly converted hearts, had worked with zeal and sanctified ability! Men and women would have been converted to the truth through the preaching of the Word, and these would have reached out for others. Many souls would have been converted, and these new converts would have brought additional revenue to the cause of God in their tithes and offerings.8MR 306.4

The character of the economy which has often been revealed in the effort to save up means, is an offense to God. He says, “The silver is Mine and the gold is Mine.” Religious and spiritual interests must not be narrowed down and subordinated to the accumulation of means in the conference treasury, that the officers may stand high in the estimation of the people as good financiers. The Lord looks beneath the surface to the outcome, and He does not approve of such financiering.—Manuscript 17, 1908. (“The Work in California,” February 15, 1908.)8MR 306.5

Released March 17, 1978.