“These are the things that ye shall do; Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour; execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates.” – Zechariah 8:16
Visit your neighbors in a friendly way, and become acquainted with them. … Those who do not take up this work, those who act with the indifference that some have manifested, will soon lose their first love, and will begin to censure, criticize, and condemn their own brethren. (1)
The apostle’s efforts were not confined to public speaking; there were many who could not have been reached in that way. He spent much time in house-to-house labor, thus availing himself of the familiar intercourse of the home circle. He visited the sick and the sorrowing, comforted the afflicted, and lifted up the oppressed. And in all that he said and did, he magnified the name of Jesus. Thus he labored, “in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.” He trembled lest his teaching should reveal the impress of the human rather than the divine. (2)
We have a sacred message to bear to the world. The Third Angel’s Message is not a theory of man’s inventing, a speculation of the imagination; but it is the solemn truth of God for these last days. It is the final warning to the perishing souls of men. It is not a system of truth simply to gratify and please the intellect; it means diligent and sacrificing labor to all who accept its holy teaching. The commandments of God and the testimony of Jesus must be brought to the attention of the world. The tidings of the coming of the Saviour must be proclaimed. The Judgment scenes must be portrayed before the unenlightened minds of men, and hearts must be aroused to realize the solemnity of the closing hours of probation, and prepare to meet their God. . . .
Go to your neighbors one by one, and come close to them till their hearts are warmed by your unselfish interest and love. Sympathize with them, pray with them, watch for opportunities to do them good, and as you can, gather a few together and open the Word of God to their darkened minds. Keep watching, as he who must render an account for the souls of men, and make the most of the privileges that God gives you of laboring with Him in His moral vineyard. Do not neglect speaking to your neighbors, and doing them all the kindness in your power, that you “by all means may save some.” We need to seek for the spirit that constrained the apostle Paul to go from house to house pleading with tears, and teaching “repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.” (3)
Charge for the Day: “Keep watching, as he who must render an account for the souls of men, and make the most of the privileges that God gives you of laboring with Him in His moral vineyard.”
1. The Review and Herald, May 13, 1902
2. The Acts of the Apostles, p. 250
3. The Review and Herald, March 13, 1888