“How much owest thou unto my lord?”Luke 16:5.
(HP 222.1)
“Know ye not that ... ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price” (1 Corinthians 6:19, 20). What a price has been paid for us! Behold the cross, and the Victim uplifted upon it. Look at those hands, pierced with the cruel nails. Look at His feet, fastened with spikes to the tree. Christ bore our sins in His own body. That suffering, that agony, is the price of your redemption....
(HP 222.2)
The wonderful love of God, manifest in Christ, is the science and the song of all the heavenly universe. Should it not call forth from us gratitude and praise? ... When the blessed light of the Sun of Righteousness shines into our hearts, and we rest in peace and joy in the Lord, then let us praise the Lord.... Let us praise Him not in words only but by the consecration to Him of all that we are and all that we have.
(HP 222.3)
How much owest thou unto my Lord? Compute this you cannot. Is there any part of your being that He has not redeemed? or anything in your possession that is not already His? When He calls for it, will you selfishly grasp it as your own? Will you keep it back, and apply it to some other purpose than the salvation of souls? It is in this way that thousands of souls are lost. How can we better show that we appreciate God’s sacrifice, His great donation to our world, than by sending forth gifts and offerings, with praise and thanksgiving from our lips, because of the great love wherewith He has loved us ...?
(HP 222.4)
Looking up to heaven in supplication, present yourself to God as His servants, and all that you have as His, saying, Lord, of thine own we freely give thee. Standing in view of the cross of Calvary and the Son of the infinite God crucified for you, realizing that matchless love, that wonderful display of grace, let your earnest inquiry be, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? He has told you. “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). When you see souls in the kingdom of God saved through your gifts and your service, you will rejoice that you had the privilege of doing this work.... The same power that the apostles had is now for those who will do God’s service.—Manuscript 139, 1898.
(HP 222.5)