' The Life of Henry Dmmmond, 477.
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him, he thus addressed his country congregation : — " You all know that to-morrow I leave this to go to Edinburgh, and to stand my trial before the General Assembly. And the result I know will be that I shall be turned out of my parish, and that this is the last time I shall address you as your minister. This you all know. But there is one thing about myself which you do not know, but which I will tell you. When I first came here to be your minister I found difficulty in obtaining a house in the parish to live in. There was but one house in the parish I could have that was suitable, and that belonged to a poor widow. I went and offered a higher rent for her house than she paid. She was dispossessed, and I got the house. I put that poor woman out of her house then, and I hold it to be a righteous thing in God to put me out of my parish now." ^
There are loyal hearts, there are spirits brave, There are souls that are pure and true;
Then give to the world the best you have, And the best shall come back to you.
Give love, and love to your heart will flow, .;^^.,
A strength in your utmost need ; ^''''
Have faith, and a score of hearts will show Their faith in your word and deed.
For life is the mirror of king and slave,
'Tis just what you are and do; Then give to the world the best you have,
And the best will come back to you.^
4. The harvest is always an increase of the sowing. The crop is a multiplication of the seed. From the seed of the flesh the ripened result is corruption, which is flesh in its most revolting state. From the seed of the Spirit the full ear is life everlasting, which is eternal holiness with its concomitant of endless happiness. We plant a single grain, we pluck a full ear ; we sow in handf uls, we reap in bosomfuls ; we scatter bushels, but we gather in rich granary stores. The remorse of earth is but the germ of the despair of hell. The holiness of the present is only the bud from which will blossom that vision of God which is the full-flowered beatitude of heaven.
^ Principal Shairp, in Letters of Thomas Erskme, ii. 363. * Madeline S. Bridges.
438 SOWING AND REAPING
This stern law of reaping as we sow has a gracious and gospel aspect in respect to the abundance of the harvest, whether natural or spiritual. Our Lord insists especially upon this. He says that the seed which fell upon good ground bore fruit, " some an hundred- fold, some sixtyfold, some thirty fold." May we not suppose that He had been counting the grains in a wheat ear, and saw in this the beneficence of the law of growth, and a prophecy of nature as to the growth of His Kingdom ? This natural multiplication goes far beyond what we should have expected. It is increase after the Divine measure, rather than the human. Our Lord sees another example of this in the mustard plant, which grows from one of the tiniest of seeds, but within the year mounts up into quite a branchy bush, the biggest of the garden herbs of Palestine, and affords rest and shelter for the birds.
This teaching is confirmed by our experience of life. We are all tempted to despise the small crosses, the small openings for kindness and self-sacrifice the day brings us, and the petty duties and burdens which fill up our humdrum existence. When we meet these faithfully and nobly, we have our reward on a grander scale than we could have expected. Burdens grow to wings, crosses to crowns, faithful endurance to triumph ; and from each discharge of duty we acquire the power to meet the next with efficiency. " We see dimly in the present what is small and what is great," as Lowell says. We are blinded by the illusions of life, and take the great for the small, because it is not the big. Our small victories in the face of temptation are won over obstacles and spiritual enemies of the highest rank, and are won to the shaping of our characters, the strengthening of our wills, the purification of our vision, the increase of our faith and joy. Professor William James suggests that to do each day of life some one thing which we know we ought to do, but which we do not want to do, would have the result of making us wiser and braver men, and more fit for great things if these fell to our share.
Hast thou, dear brother, tofled through many years And seen no fruits, though thou hast freely sown Thy life in labour and with watchful tears Watered the soil yet none the richer grown ?
GAL. VI. 7 439
Eemember that the reaping is God's own, And He can gather even of doubts and fears; We only plough and plant our little field — He is our harvest, and His Love the yield.
Be sure no kindly word or work may fail To leave a blessing, if we know it not And our poor efforts often err and ail, While nothing that we do is without spot ; Christ stands Yoke-fellow, in the lowliest lot; He is the light, and prayers at last prevail; And, should thy service seem a wasted part, It still shall blossom in some happier heart.