BLESSED THAT WE MAY BLESS.
God’s law of giving, which is the law of life, is expressed in these words to Abraham, “the father of all them that believe.” “I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing.” Gen. 12:2. The Revised Version renders the last clause, “And be thou a blessing;” showing that man is not a mere passive agent in God’s hands, but an active co-operator. “Be thou a blessing” involves active duty rather than passive privilege. This was the lesson to Israel which so many failed to learn. Said the Lord to them, “Now therefore, if ye will obey My voice indeed, and keep My covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine; and ye shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation.” Ex. 19:5, 6. The duty of the priest is to teach the knowledge of God, to show forth His praises, to minister of His goodness. (See Lev. 10:11; Deut. 17:9, 10; Ezra 7:10; Mal. 2:7.) The Lord appointed priests for His people; but it was His design that His entire people should so thoroughly know Him that they might be His priests to all the nations of earth, teaching the nations the way of life. For this they were given “the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises.” Rom. 9:4. These were given Israel in trust, not alone that Israel might be blessed, but alone that they might be blessed in the only way true blessing can come to humanity, namely, by making themselves a channel of God’s blessing to others. Their prayer was to be, “God be merciful unto us, and bless us; . . . that Thy way may be known upon earth, Thy saving health among all nations.” Ps. 67:1, 2. Read the rest of the psalm, and note that in the Revised Version and original it is “peoples,” plural and not singular, referring to different nations of earth. Their duty was to “declare His glory [goodness, character, truth,] among the nations [heathen]; His marvelous works among all the peoples.” “Let them say among the nations, The Lord reigneth.” 1 Chron. 16:24, 31. The New Testament is a larger echo of all this, because the early church was better prepared to do God’s work. Read 1 Peter 2:9, and compare with Ex. 19:5, 6. “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” This was true of God’s people anciently. It is God’s way of blessing His people in all ages. It is not alone His purpose to bless His people generally, that His people generally may be a blessing; but to bless His people individually, that individually each may be a blessing. Esther came to the throne of Persia that she there might be a blessing. Hezekiah, upon the throne of Judah, was healed of his sickness (see Sabbath-school lesson), that he might be a blessing in telling to the heathen kings the glories of a living God, who bestowed life and health. And this is as true of the soul in the humblest place. We are never where we are by accident. It may not be God’s will; but even then, if we submit to Him, He will do the best that can be done with the circumstances we have made. Many souls are in fearfully perilous environments and greatly disagreeable surroundings. Some flee apace from this, others whine, and mourn, and rebel, and preach the gospel of selfishness instead of that of God. They are looking for human help, human sunshine, and in God’s goodness they are placed where they can not receive it. Why?—So that they may learn that the true source of life and blessing is in God, and may exercise the privilege of giving it to others who are around them, more needy of spiritual blessings than themselves. God gives blessings that we may bless. We are kindled by Jesus Christ, and constantly supplied by the oil of His grace, that individually we may be, as was John the Baptist, “a burning and a shining light.” We are to drink of the water that He gives, that individually it may, in us, be “a well of water springing up into everlasting life,” “a spring of water, whose waters fail not.” It does not deceive the weary traveler who seeks it for life. Its fountainhead is the throne of God. Only so may we retain God’s blessing. Only in so using shall we receive more. Otherwise the water of life will become stagnant, the bread of life moldy, the fruit designed to feed the needy will rot; opportunity will become occasion for stumbling, and the soul will die spiritually. To give of God’s blessing is to live; to withhold is to die. God thus sets before us life and death, blessing and cursing, and beseeches us to choose life.