believe it would make men far more industrious than ever mere self-
interest can make them; they would say, 'God is our Father, He gave
us His own Son, He gives us all things freely, we owe Him not
slavish service, but a boundless debt of cheerful gratitude.
Therefore we must do His will, and we are sure His will must be our
happiness and comfort--therefore we must do His will, and His will
is that we should WORK, and therefore we MUST work. He has bidden
us labour on this earth--He has bidden us dress it and keep it,
conquer it and fill it for Him. We are His stewards here on earth,
and therefore it is a glory and an honour to be allowed to work here
in God's own land--in our loving Father's own garden. We do not
know why He wishes us to labour and till the ground, for He could
have fed us with manna from heaven if He liked, as He fed the Jews
of old, without our working at all. But His will is that we should
work; and work we will, not for our own sakes merely, but for His
sake, because we know He likes it, and for the sake of our brothers,
our countrymen, for whom Christ died.'

Oh, my friends, why is it that so many till the ground
industriously, and yet grow poorer and poorer for all their drudging
and working? It is their own fault. They till the ground for their
own sakes, and not for God's sake and for their countrymen's sake;
and so, as the Prophet says, they sow much and bring in little, and
he who earns wages earns them to put in a bag full of holes.
Suppose you try the opposite plan. Suppose you say to yourself, 'I
will work henceforward because God wishes me to work. I will work
henceforward for my country's sake, because I feel that God has
given me a noble and a holy calling when He set me to grow food for
His children, the people of England. As for my wages and my profit,
God will take care of them if they are just; and if they are unjust,