We pick out a text here and there to make it serve our turn; whereas , if we take it all together, and considered what went before and what followed after, we should find it meant no such thing.
John SeldenRead
All things are God's already; we can give him no right, by consecrating any, that he had not before, only we set it apart to his service - just as a gardener brings his master a basket of apricots, and presents them; his lord thanks him, and perhaps gives him something for his pains, and yet the apricots were as much his lord's before as now.
Interpretation
What this quote means
We acknowledge that everything belongs to a higher power, and by dedicating it to that power, we simply recognize its rightful ownership.
This quote reflects the philosophical perspective that all things ultimately belong to God, and when we dedicate something to Him, we are not actually granting Him ownership, but rather recognizing the inherent relationship of everything to the divine. The analogy of a gardener bringing apricots to his master illustrates the act of offering as a recognition of gratitude and stewardship, emphasizing that ownership is not transferred but acknowledged.
Themes
GodOwnershipConsecrationGratitudeStewardship
In practice
Example use cases
In a sermon discussing the importance of stewardship in faith communities.
More from John Selden
All quotes →Of all the actions of a man's life, his marriage does least concern other people, yet of all the actions of our lives, 'tis the most meddled with by other people.
John SeldenRead
They that govern the most make the least noise.
John SeldenRead
Ignorance of the law excuses no man; not that all men know the law, but because 'tis an excuse every man will plead, and no man can tell how to refute him.
John SeldenRead
Pleasures are all alike simply considered in themselves: he that hunts, or he that governs the commonwealth, they both please themselves alike, only we commend that, whereby we ourselves receive some benefit.
John SeldenRead
Similar quotes
I turn to right and left, in all the earth I see no signs of justice, sense or worth: A man does evil deeds, and all his days Are filled with luck and universal praise; Another's good in all he does - he dies A wretched, broken man whom all despise.
Abolqasem FerdowsiRead
This is the secret of spiritual life: to think that I am the Atman and not the body, and that the whole of this universe with all its relations, with all its good and all its evil, is but as a series of paintings...scenes on a canvas...of which I am the witness.
Swami VivekanandaRead
It is easy to say that there are the rich and the poor, and so something should be done. But in history, there are always the rich and the poor. If the poor were not as poor, we would still call them the poor. I mean, whoever has less can be called the poor. You will always have the 10% that have less and the 10% that have the most.
John Forbes Nash, Jr.Read
Truly man is the king of beasts, for his brutality exceeds them. We live by the death of others. We are burial places.
Leonardo Da VinciRead
A Christian should always remember that the value of his good works is not based on their number and excellence, but on the love of God which prompts him to do these things.
John Of The CrossRead
In my dreams, I never have an age.
Madeleine L'EngleRead