Looking to the whole context of the verse, looking to the whole tenor and life of the Apostle, we may be sure that he meant those to whom he wrote to think chiefly of the spheres of Christian activity which were open to them, to each of them according to the gift that he had received — the gift of prophecy, ministration, helps and governments, diversities of tongues, gifts of healing, and the like. Spiritual activity, rather than secular activity, was what was in tlie Apostle's thoughts. Primarily, at least, the words are addressed to those who are engaged in the sphere of Christian activity. But it will be serviceable to give the words a wider range and let them refer to our work in the world, and describe the manner in which our duty should be done : " As for our diligence in doing our duty, let us not be slothful — let us really do it diligently."
1. We all know what this means in any worldly calling ; and we know also that in every worldly calling it is an indispensable condition of eminence and success. There must be industry; strenuous, unremitting, untiring industry; willingness to forgo
278 OUTWARD, INWARD, CHRISTWARD
the luxury of ease, " to scorn delights, and live laborious days." For the most part, this is a faculty to be acquired ; a habit to be cultivated. It is a faculty which cannot be acquired too early ; a habit which cannot be cultivated too assiduously. It is good advice, and advice which cannot be too often or too emphatically repeated, especially to the young : Learn this lesson soon, and learn it well. Accustom yourself, train yourself to this " diligence in business." Do this systematically in whatever you undertake. Act upon the principle that whatever it is worth while to acquire, it is worth while to acquire thoroughly; whatever it is worth while to do at all, it is worth while to do well.
This text is in perfect harmony with other parts of Scripture. St. Paul in writing his second letter to the Thessalonians (iii. 10) says, " For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat." The evil complained of here began to show itself even while the Apostle was with the Church. Some were idlers, and they needed the earnest words of St. Paul to rebuke them and incite them to labour. He was himself a remarkable example of industry. Often did he spend the day in preaching and teaching, and then labour far into the night at his " craft " for support, rather than be dependent on the bounty of others. He becomes righteously indignant at the Thessalonian idlers, and he declares that neither should they eat. They were not to be supported by the charity of others, unless they had done all they could for their own support. This was a common maxim among the Jews ; and the same sentiment is often found in the writings of Greek poets, orators, and philosophers. The maxim is in harinony with strict justice. At the very dawn of human history we are taught that man was to earn his bread in the sweat of his face. A man who will not work ought to starve. You ought not to help him. Aid given to a lazy man ia a premium on vice.
^ " Africa is the land of the unemployed," Henry Drummond says in his Tropical Africa. This saying is true only regarding the men. "What is the first commandment?" a Lovedale boy was asked. " Thou shalt do no work," was the reply.^
"11 Not often did Watts take subjects for his paintings from the stern realities of everyday life. But there is a small group of
* Steivart of Lovedale, 207.
ROMANS XII. II 279
pictures in which the sorrows and privations of those who have been worsted in the battle of life, or have been less fortunate than their fellows, are portrayed with unusual power, and show how wide is the range of his sympathies. Nothing human is alien to him. The pencil that could give a glow of vivid colour to the mystic visions of fancy could paint in sombre hues the painful experiences of the poor. He has combined, as it were, the two capacities in the humorous picture entitled, " When Poverty comes in at the door, Love flies out at the window." To this popular proverb he has given a realistic and yet an imaginative charm. The picture at once impresses the mind and makes its meaning plain. One side of it is illumined with a bright light emblematical of the happiness that has been but is now passing away. The room is poorly furnished, and yet exhibits traces of former abundance that redeem its squalidness. The secret of the change of circumstances in the household is revealed in the laziness and slovenliness of the mistress. Instead of diligently attending to her domestic affairs, she is absorbed in caressing a pet dove, and lounging on a bed, whose disordered clothes exhibit the careless housekeeping of many days. Her work-basket is overturned on the floor, and its contents are scattered. Doves make their nests in pigeon-holes above the bed, with all their litter of confusion, and from the open window the untended sprays of roses, returning to their wild condition through neglect, creep in. The housewife is young and beautiful; but whatever pleasing impression she produces is at once removed by the contradictory character of her slovenly habits. She cannot make a happy home ; and therefore the door of the room on one side is represented as opening, admit- ting the sordid figm-e of Poverty, dressed in rags, and accompanied by the gaunt wolf of Hunger, and letting in at the same time the cold inclement wind outside, which blows before it a drift of withered autumn leaves that strew the floor, and speak eloquently of the hostile forces of nature which inevitably work havoc where there is no principle of order and industry to keep them in check ; while through the wide-open window the winged Cupid, no longer a boy but a grown-up mature youth, is in the act of taking flight over the sill. Every detail of the picture tells, and enhances the effect of the whole ; and no one can gaze upon the startling contrast between the dark forbidding figure of Poverty, and the bright affrighted look of Love, without reading the moral which it BO forcibly teaches. Watts could not possibly have taught a more impressive lesson to all who are inclined to act the part of the young woman whose own improvident ways have made her the subject of experiment by two such antagonistic powers, Poverty