—what goodness the LORD shall do unto us, the same will we do unto thee.—Numbers 10:32
If you would learn you must study. And you cannot live a life of obedience to God without being a student of His Word. Only as we study God’s Word do we come to understand our opportunities and obligations. We are blessed to bless. From the story behind our text we learn three valuable lessons, pointed out here by the late F. B. Meyer:
We get by giving. – If the river-bed were to hoard up its waters, they would become stagnant and noisome. It is only in parting with them that it receives constant supplies from the crystal fountain-head. So, if we keep God’s good things to ourselves, we make it impossible to receive more. You cannot put more water into a full glass. But as we part with them we get more and better. Distribute five loaves, and you have twelve baskets of fragments.
We learn by teaching. – To stay in a class till you shall feel fully educated, is to miss one prime means of education. There is no way of discovering what we do not know, and getting grounded in what we do, like that of imparting what we have learned to others. Would you learn, teach. Would you grow in grace, tell of the grace which has saved you.
We keep what we give away. – Hoard your money, and you lose it. Give it away, and it is caught in bags that wax not old, and stored beyond the reach of moth or thief. “There is that scattereth, and increaseth yet more; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth only to want” (Pro 11:24). This is folly to the worldling, but sober fact to the child of the King.
