GOD'S LAW OF GIVING IN NATURE
By P. T. Magan
“The law of giving is written in the universe. Take a glance at the relations naturally existing betwixt our physical beings, on the one hand, and the trees, shrubs, and flowers on the other. Tree and plant life ministers to man and animal, and man and animal in turn minister to tree and plant. The latter fill the air with oxygen, that vital element without which human beings can not exist. And man and animal in turn give off carbonic acid gas, without which tree and shrub would perish. More than this: God has wonderfully ordained that the trees and plants must set loose, or give off, the oxygen, before it is possible for them to receive the carbonic acid gas. “The flowers breathe fragrance and unfold their beauty in blessing to the world. The sun sheds its light to gladden a thousand worlds. The ocean, itself the source of all our springs and fountains, receives the streams from every land, but it takes to give. The mists ascending from its bosom fall in showers to water the earth, that it may bring forth and bud. “The angels of glory find their joy in giving,—giving love and tireless watch-care to souls that are fallen and unholy. Heavenly beings woo the hearts of men; they bring to this dark world light from the courts above; by gentle and patient ministry they move upon the human spirit, to bring the lost into a fellowship with Christ which is even closer than they themselves can know. “But turning from all lesser representations, we behold God in Jesus. Looking unto Jesus, we see that it is the glory of our God to give. ‘I do nothing of myself,’ says Christ; ‘the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father.’ ‘I seek not mine own glory, but the glory of Him that sent me.’ In these words is set forth the great principle which is the law of life for the universe. All things Christ received from God, but He took to give. So in the heavenly courts, in His ministry for all created beings; through the beloved Son, the Father’s life flows out to all; through the Son it returns, in praise and joyous service, a tide of love, to the great Source of all. And thus through Christ the circuit of beneficence is complete, representing the character of the great GIVER, the law of life.” All nature obeys the law of God, the law of life, the law of giving. Only man stands rebellious and out of harmony. Man is a free moral agent. God has left him free to choose whether he will live to give, or live to grasp. He can exist for self, or he can live for others. But with his selfish, self-serving heart, he stands in rebellion against the grand principle of giving everywhere else manifested in the universe. But his Saviour calls upon him in pleading tones to come and yield his spirit to the GIVING SPIRIT,—to become one in spirit, purpose, and life with God and the angels of heaven. “If thou knewest the gift of God.” The gift of God, accepted in its fullness, is the gift of giving. Said Christ, “The Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many.” The crowning act of giving in the life of Christ was His giving himself unto death—even the death of the cross. Yet He declares that this experience is His glory. “The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honor. Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify thy name.” With Christ, to be glorified was to give His life,—the last full measure of devotion. He was glorified in His death, and His death was His crowning glory. And thus, in that last fond prayer in the garden, He pleads: “I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.” But He was pleading for death, and this was the glory He had with the Father before the world was. When, before this earth was created, the Father and the Son looked down through the dim vista of sin-stained, saddened centuries that were to come,—along the waste lapse of time made terrible by rebellion,—then it was, in that elder day, that Christ offered himself a sacrifice for man. He was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Then it was that He surrendered and gave himself to death, and that was the glory that He had with the Father before the world was. Long were the Father and the Son closeted together, each pouring out His soul. The one was offering His life, the other was accepting the sacrifice. The Son gave His life, the Father gave His Son. Could it be that even Divinity felt the need of this most blessed, most exalting, most purifying experience? Then it was that Satan rose in rebellion, because he thought that Christ received too much attention and too much glory from the Father. He thought that he was slighted. Little did he know that this attention was a time during which sacrifice was studied, and that this glory spoiled the grave. To the woman of Samaria Jesus said: “If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of Him, and He would have given thee living water. . . . Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” At another time, kneeling down in prayer, the Master said: “Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.” The cup which Jesus drank contained the water of life—but the life by the way of the portal of pouring out His soul unto death. And this is the living water and the living way that Jesus offers to all who would follow Him, to all who would be a part of the life from above, to all who will recognize and know that in the womb of the gift of giving is the gift of eternal living.