Proverbs 3:27 Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of your hand to do it.… When the first man had fallen into sin labour was imposed upon him as a punishment. And yet there was mercy mingled with the judgment. That stern necessity which forced man to eat bread in the sweat of his brow became one of his purest and sweetest sources of enjoyment. What would the world be without labour? Do we not owe to it the occupation of time which otherwise would be a burden too heavy to bear? Is it not indispensable to our mental and physical vigour, to the healthy mind in the healthy body? And does it not contribute, directly and indirectly, to our best and most enduring pleasures? But the labour is as God imposed it upon man. Not labour that is incessant, or, in itself, unfriendly to the interests of body or mind. Man has too frequently made labour a curse. To bring back labour to the position which it held after the expulsion from paradise, to guard its rights, and to render industrial occupation a help rather than a hindrance to the progress of humanity are objects of noble and Godlike enterprise. I. THIS PURPOSE IS GOOD. 1. It is good personally. Putting wise limitations on labour is good for the body, for the mind, for the soul. 2. It is good relatively. Good for employers — good for their interests, for their consciences. It is good for the commonwealth and for the Church. II. THIS MOVEMENT FOR THE LIMITATION OF LABOUR IS JUST. Young men have a right to a fair portion of time to be used as they think best. We speak not now of expediency, but of lawful claim. They have a right to be happy. It is a sin to stop any fellow-creature from being happy. We commit this sin if we help to place impediments in his way so that he cannot obtain his share of joy. They have a right to advance their own interests. Young people may have no golden opportunities because they have no leisure. They have a right to fulfil some moral design. What this should be, each young man should find out specifically for himself. He is then bound to effectuate it. And he has a right to demand from society opportunity to obey the divinely implanted impulse. He must have breathing time, time for moral achievements. III. THE DEMAND FOR SHORTER HOURS OF LABOUR IS ALSO PRACTICABLE. It can be done. Late hours are not indispensable. A little domestic arrangement would make it just as easy to purchase in the broad daylight as in the dark evening hour. (W. M. Whittemore, S.C.L.) Parallel Verses KJV: Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it.WEB: Don't withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in the power of your hand to do it. |
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