GIVE OR TAKE by S.

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Dec 10, 1902

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 28, No. 50.

GIVE OR TAKE.

By S.

THERE is a world of difference between the two—an infinity of difference. Some take, that they may give again; and some give, that they may get again—a world of difference here also. The one is in the order of God. The other is the inspiration of self-service. And still it is right to give, and it is right to take. The right or wrong of the act depends upon what we take and why, what we give and why. We can give that which is good—give it for the good it will do, give it that he to whom it is given may pass it along, so letting the good deed flow on like a silvery stream through a thirsty land, blessing and re-blessing, cheering the dreary wastes of discouragement, and strengthening the heart crushed under a weight of woe. Or we can give that which is evil, and see it take its course down through the world like a withering stream of fiery lava, searing, burning, and burying everything in its path. We can give the unkind word, repeat the unkind story, and see it go on its way like a pestilence stalking through the land leaving behind it desolation, ruined homes, blighted hopes, and death.

And so likewise we can take for good or take for ill. God’s hands with blessings full are reached out to us day and night. Are you taking them to use in helping others, thus giving again what God has given you, making an ever-flowing stream of blessing? or are you hoarding them to yourself to gather the rust of pride and the moth of jealousy, thus choking up the stream of good which God designed should flow from your possession of His gift? Which is it? Ask yourself, and analyze your answer.

Sin is the interference of lawlessness with God’s great purpose of good. If we hoard to our own use and purpose the blessings of which God has made us stewards, we are thwarting the purpose of the Infinite—to do which is sin, and to desire to do which is rebellion. God could brush us out of His way as we brush a gnat from our windowpane; but His purpose is deeper, broader, and holier than that. His purpose includes our triumph over sin as well as His. It includes the formation of a righteous character in us, and that must come by test and trial; and by these means we prove whether we are trustworthy of eternal life.

We are not compelled even to take the good. We can take it if we choose; or if we choose, we can take the evil, and not only take that, but pass it along, as well. Instead of making ourselves fountains of blessing because God’s purpose is flowing through us, we can turn our whole lives into fountains of poison like the death springs of the desert around whose deceptive brinks lie the death-stricken carcasses of those who had gone there to drink. Which shall it be? You can make it which you will. You can choose life or death for yourself, and you can be the minister of either. It depends upon what you take and why you take it; what you give and why you give it.

Ask God to help you to choose aright, both in the taking and the giving. Put yourself on His side, in harmony with His purpose, and so be a power in His hands for good. S.