Morning By Morning #234

He who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.

Proverbs 11:25

From the pen of Charles Spurgeon:

This verse teaches us a great lesson: to receive, we must give; to accumulate, we must scatter; to make ourselves happy, we must make others happy; and to become spiritually strong, we must seek the spiritual good of others.

How is it that when we refresh others, we ourselves are refreshed? Our efforts to be useful actually bring out our abilities for usefulness. We all have latent talents and dormant skills that are brought to light through exercise. Our full strength is hidden even from ourselves until we venture out to fight the Lord’s battles or to climb mountains of difficulty. We will never know what tender sympathy we possess until we attempt to dry a widow’s tears or soothe an orphan’s grief. We often discover that in attempting to teach others, we are taught. And what gracious lessons some of us have learned while visiting at the sickbeds of others!

We endeavor to teach the Scriptures and come away blushing that we know so little of them. In our conversations with poor saints we are taught the way of God more perfectly for ourselves and gain a deeper insight into God’s divine truth. Thus, refreshing others brings humility. We discover how much grace there is in places we had never looked for it and learn just how far a poor saint may surpass us in knowledge. Our own comfort is increased as well by serving others. We endeavor to cheer them and the consolation gladdens our own heart. Like the two men recently trapped in the snow, one rubbed the other’s limbs to keep him from dying, and in so doing saved his own life because the rubbing kept his own blood circulating. The poor widow of Zarephath gave from her meager means for the prophet Elijah’s needs, and from that day forward was never in want again (see 1 Kings 17:7 – 24). Therefore, “give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over” (Luke 6:38).

From the pen of Jim Reimann:

Some people refer to using their “God-given common sense.” If by that they mean using their brains, along with godly wisdom—then great! But we must be careful using so-called common sense—a term found nowhere in the Scriptures. The Bible says: “The foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom” (1 Cor. 1:25), and “‘My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the LORD. ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts’” (Isa. 55:8 – 9).

We are taught that to receive, we must give—something the world will never understand. We are taught to “humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up” (James 4:10). Thus, the proper thing to do is often the exact opposite of our natural inclination, or what our “common sense” is telling us.

Yet the ultimate dichotomy is that to live, we must die! Jesus said,

I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

John 12:24 – 25