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ET us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. (Ecclesiastes 12:13)
One sterling character has my highest admiration, and still does, of any other of the annals of American history, and exemplifies all that is honorable and praiseworthy in the Christian gentleman - General Robert E. Lee. He was a man who placed duty above the goal of glory and, in the end, won both glory and duty well-performed. He has written, Duty, then is the sublimest word in our language. Do your duty in all things. You cannot do more; you should never wish to do less.
Duty is a word which has lost popularity in our modern culture; however, the highest mark in Christian living is to perform our duty to God, family, and country.
Duty is more than a sentiment – it requires ACTION. Used as it is used in Ecclesiastes above, it entails not only the knowledge of that which God has commanded of us, but the action of obedience thereto. Our WHOLE duty is to fear God, and keep His commandments. Fear of God is the beginning of knowledge, and love and obedience to God is the end.
We have duties and obligations as parents to raise up our children in the fear of the Lord, to provide for our families, to serve our countries, and to serve our fellow man. But our greatest duty of all, which encompasses all others, is to perform our duty to God the Supreme Law Giver and Bishop of our Souls.
The motto at the US Military Academy is Duty, Honor, Country, but omitting God from that equation renders it sterile. If we fear God, we shall first do our duty to Him; then, all else falls into place in remaining honorable in our professions as well as in performing our duty to our country.
Doing our duty to God and country should never evoke an attitude of pride, for that is the least expected of the Christians. So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do. Going beyond the call of duty in our service to God and country is that which is commendable – but no less. The hidden character in man that results in extraordinary courage in a single moment of time elevates him above the common plane and calls him heroic. But to live above that common plane, day after day, is what real heroism is all about. We cannot all be heroes, but we can all be heroic on specific occasions in which simply doing our duty will not suffice. Our Lord Jesus Christ did not have a duty to lay down His life for us, but He did so out of love and self-sacrifice; and He calls each of us to that higher standard of character in following Him.
The laws of God are not all positive, more than half are negative. The ‘shalls’ make up the first four Commandments, and the ‘shall nots’ the last six. But if we keep the first four in our love for God and our fellow man, the last six become routine in our daily living.
The 1828 edition of the American Dictionary of the English language by Noah Webster provides a fuller description of DUTY than most of the more modern dictionaries. Webster divides our duty into the same two categories of the Ten Commandments, that is, those things which we ought to do, and those which we ought not to do:
Duty of Action: That which a person owes to another; that which a person is bound by any legal, natural, moral or obligation to pay. Obedience to princes, magistrates and the laws is the duty of every citizen and subject; obedience, respect and kindness to parents are duties of children; fidelity to friends is a duty; reverence, obedience and prayers of GOD are indispensable duties, etc.
Passive Duty: Forbearance of that which is forbidden by morality, law and propriety. It is our duty to refrain from lewdness, intemperance, profaneness and injustice.
Perhaps Noah Webster’s definition of duty seems quaint to us today and even old-fashioned, but remember that our God is also quaint and old-fashioned. His Book, though the first and oldest ever published, is still the one by which our lives should be governed. It is sad to consider what duty meant to our forefathers, and that which it has come to mean to us today. The if it feels good, do it crowd’ will never know or understand the meaning of the word DUTY. But those who know and ACT on the meaning are blessed above all understanding.
Are you, my friend, a dutiful parent, son, daughter, citizen, or Christian?
