“God has given us all something to do; and in the discharge of various duties, our lives will be made useful, and we shall be blessed. ‘Not slothful in business,’ [Romans 12:11] is the injunction of the apostle Paul. A person might as well expect a harvest where he has not sown, as to expect to be saved while living in indolence. The race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, yet ‘he shall become poor that dealeth with a slack hand.’ [Proverbs 10:4.] Those who are diligent in business may not always be prospered; but drowsiness and idleness are sure to grieve the Spirit of God, and destroy true godliness. A stagnant pool becomes offensive; but a pure, flowing brook spreads health and gladness over the land.
“Riches and idleness are thought by some to be blessings indeed; but those who are always busy, and who cheerfully go about their daily tasks, are the most happy, and enjoy the best health. The healthful weariness which results from well-regulated labor secures to them the benefits of refreshing sleep. The sentence that man must toil for his daily bread, and the promise of future happiness and glory, both came from the same throne, and both are blessings.” –Christian Temperance and Bible Hygiene, p. 96–97
“One of the surest safeguards against evil is useful occupation, while idleness is one of the greatest curses; for vice, crime, and poverty follow in its wake. Those who are always busy, who go cheerfully about their daily tasks, are the useful members of society. In the faithful discharge of the various duties that lie in their pathway, they make their lives a blessing to themselves and to others. Diligent labor keeps them from many of the snares of him who ‘finds some mischief still for idle hands to do.’” –Counsels to Parents, Teachers and Students, p. 275
“Talent is too much idolized, and station too much coveted, even among Seventh-day Adventists. There is too eager a desire to ride upon the high places of the earth, and too little willingness to follow the Saviour in the path of cross-bearing and humility. There are too many who will do nothing unless they can be leaders; too many who must be praised and petted, or they have no interest to labor. To work in a humble way for Jesus, and, though unnoticed, to still work on, sowing the seeds of truth, appears to them an unattractive and unwelcome task.
“All this springs from mistaken conceptions of usefulness and honor. The wide, deep rivers are admired and valued, while the hundreds of little rills that help to form these broad and noble streams, are unnoticed. Yet the humble brook that makes its noiseless way through grove and meadow, bringing health and fertility and beauty, is as useful in its way as the broad river.
“We do not need eminent men so much as good, true, and humble men. God calls for those of all classes and all trades to work in His cause. Those are wanted who will begin at the lower rounds of the ladder, who will, if need be, eat their own bread and quietly perform their duty; men who will not shrink from diligent labor to acquire means, or from rigid economy in its expenditure, and who will devote both time and means to work for the Master in their own families and their own neighborhoods.” –Gospel Workers, p. 381
“Wear the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price. Cherish the grace of love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. This is the fruit of the Christian tree. Planted by the rivers of water, it always brings forth its fruit in due season.” –Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 3, p. 1142
Ellen G. White