| The Secrets of a Beautiful Life |
Chapter 9 |
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The miracle is for our instruction. All about us are those who have many and sore need. We pity them. We turn to Christ with our pity, and pray him to send some one to feed and bless those who are in such need. But as we listen we hear him say, “Give ye them to eat!” Then we say, “Why, Master, we have nothing to give to these hungry multitudes. We cannot comfort these sorrows. We cannot guide these tottering, stumbling feet. We cannot give strength to these fainting hearts. We cannot meet these intense cravings for sympathy, for love, for life. We cannot feed these hungers. We have only our five barley loaves, and here are thousands.” But our Lord’s quiet answer still is, “Give ye them to eat.”
Christ always used the human so far as the human would reach. He never wrought an unnecessary miracle. If the work could be done without the putting forth of supernatural energy, it was so wrought. And when miracles were performed, all that human ability could do in the process was left to human ability. There was never any waste of miracle. Then it is a common law in the kingdom of God that, whenever possible, divine gifts are passed to men through other men. God sends many of his gifts to the world through human hands and hearts. The word of God was spoken in olden times through human lips. When God came to reveal his love and mercy in a life, the people looked up and saw a face like their own faces. The real worker in the world to-day is the Holy Spirit. His is the power that regenerates, sanctifies, and comforts. But no eye sees him. He works invisibly, silently. What we see all the time is a human face and a human hand. We hear the Spirit’s voice in the accents of lips like our own. The gospel is the be told to every creature; but those who have learned it themselves, and have been saved by it, must be the bearers of the good news. The command still and always is, “Give ye them to eat.”
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