When Duty Calls – Living Waters

duty n., pl. duties. 1. An act or a course of action that is required of one by position, social custom, law, or religion. 2.a. Moral obligation. b. The compulsion felt to meet such obligation. 3. A service, function, or task assigned to one, especially in the armed forces. 4. Function or work; service.

“The Second Mile” Stephen Moore
Stern Duty said, “Go walk a mile And help thy brother bear his load. I walked reluctant, but meanwhile, My heart grew soft with help bestowed. Then Love said, “Go another mile.” I went, and Duty spoke no more, But Love arose and with a smile Took all the burden that I bore.	‘Tis ever thus when Duty calls; If we spring quickly to obey, Love comes, and whatsoe’er befalls, We’re glad to help another day. The second mile we walk with joy; Heaven’s peace goes with us on the road, So let us all our powers employ To help our brother bear life’s load.”

Luke 17:3-15

3 “Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him.
4 ‘And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you, saying, ‘I repent,’ you shall forgive him.
5 And the apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.”
6 So the Lord said, “If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.
7 “And which of you, having a servant plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and sit down to eat’?
8 “But will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare something for my supper, and gird yourseIf and serve me till I have eaten and drunk, and afterward you will eat and drink’?
9 “Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I think not.
10 “So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.'”
11 Now it happened as He went to Jerusalem that He passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee.
12 Then as He entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off.
13 And they lifted up their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”
14 So when He saw them, He said to them, “Go, show yourselves to the priests. “And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed.
15 And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God,

A Duty to Perform

Luke 17:10 “So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, `We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.'” (NKJ)

John 13:14 “If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. (NKJ)

Rom 13:8 Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. (NKJ)

1 Cor 7:3 Let the husband render to his wife the affection due her, and likewise also the wife to her husband. (NKJ)

Eph 5:28 So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. (NKJ)

II Th 1:3 We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is fitting, because your faith grows exceedingly, and the love of every one of you all abounds toward each other, (NKJ)

II Th 2:13 But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, (NKJ)

Heb 5:12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. (NKJ)

I Jn 2:6 He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked. (NKJ)
I Jn 3:16 By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. (NKJ)

I Jn 4:11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. (NKJ)

3 Jn 1:8 We therefore ought to receive such, that we may become fellow workers for the truth. (NKJ)

Other People’s Thoughts on Duty

New occasions teach new duties. James Russell Lowell

There is no duty we so much underrate as the duty of being happy. Robert Louis Stevenson

Never mind your happiness; do your duty. Will Durant

… it is just as hard to do your duty when men are sneering at you as when they are shooting at you. Woodrow Wilson

A man who neglects his duty as a citizen is not entitled to his rights as a citizen. Tiorio

Only aim to do your duty, and mankind will give you credit where you fail. Thomas Jefferson

A duty dodged is like a debt unpaid; it is only deferred, and we must come back and settle the account at last. Joseph F. Newton

When a stupid man is doing something he is ashamed of, he always declares that it is his duty. George Bernard Shaw

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. Robert E. Lee

Duty is what one expects from others. Oscar Wilde

Men do less than they ought, unless they do all that they can. Thomas Carlyle

The reward of one duty is the power to fulfill another. George Eliot

He who is false to the present duty breaks a thread in the loom, and you will see the effect when the weaving of a lifetime is unravelled. William Ellery Channing

Do something every day that you don’t want to do; this is the golden rule for acquiring the habit of doing your duty without pain. Mark Twain

It is the duty of the government to make it difficult for people to do wrong, easy to do right. William E. Gladstone

Knowledge of our duties is the most essential part of the philosophy of life. If you escape duty you avoid action. The world demands results. George W. Goethals

Sufficient to each day are the duties to be done and the trials to be endured. God never built a Christian strong enough to carry today’s duties and tomorrow’s anxieties piled on top of them. Theodore Ledyard Cuyler

For strength to bear is found in duty alone, and he is blest indeed who learns to make the joy of others cure his own heartache. Drake

Let us do our duty in our shop or our kitchen, in the market, the street, the office, the school, the home, just as faithfully as if we stood in the front rank of some great battle, and knew that victory for mankind depended on our bravery, strength and skill. When we do that, the humblest of us will be serving in that great army which achieves the welfare of the world. Theodore Parker

Who escapes a duty, avoids a gain. Theodore Parker

We all know our duty better than we discharge it. John Randolph

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