SOS 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



June 



a pretty stupendous optical illusion to con- 

 vince a liungry man lie had been fed when 

 he hadn't. They had tasted the food, each 

 and every one of them ; they saw it miracu- 

 lously multiply with their own eyes. If 

 there were any doubting Thomases among 

 the crowd who felt like demanding some- 

 thing plainer before they would believe, they 

 had got it. I think I am safe in saying that 

 there was not a single doubter among that 

 whole five thousand. From that time for- 

 ward they had faith in Jesus — that is, they 

 had faith in his power to provide free din- 

 ners. 



Now, I need not tell you that this was not 

 what the Master was striving for. He felt 

 touched because of the hunger and faintness 

 of so many, and he felt a thrill of joy in 

 being able to provide for these temporal 

 wants, no doubt ; but this was by no means 

 the end and object in view. lie came not, 

 simply to give bread to the hungry, but he 

 came to save sinners. After the people had 

 been fed he sought to teach them spiritual 

 lessons. Why did they want to make him 

 king ? Doubtless because they rightly sup- 

 posed he would be better able to give them 

 free dinners than any other king tlie world 

 contained, and this was the great sum and 

 substance of their aspirations. Would free 

 dinners every day have made them better 

 men ? Some of our great cities have tried 

 the experiment, and perhaps those who had 

 the matter in charge came out a little sad- 

 der as well as wiser when the experiment 

 was over. Dear reader, would it make a 

 better man of you to give you a free dinner 

 every day y To be sure, not. It would, 

 without question, do you harm. ''By the 

 sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread." 

 This is the law of our being, and it has nev- 

 er been recalled. The miracle answered its 

 purpose, however, and the people flocked to 

 the other side of the lake to find this Avon- 

 derf ul prophet. They were in haste to see 

 him use this wonderful power again. They 

 even suggested a variation in the pro- 

 gramme, and thought that manna sent 

 down from heaven in the good old way 

 ■Moses used to manage it would be about the 

 thing. Jesus strove to turn their thoughts 

 to spiritual things. His life was a life of 

 self-sacrifice, and no true life was possible 

 for them unless they took up \ similar life 

 of self-sacrifice. 8aid he in substance to the 

 multitude, " My friends, it is not bread you 

 need to make you happy; it is all very well 

 so far as it goes, but it won't answer at all. 

 My Father giveth you the true bread from 

 heaven." And again, " For the bread of 

 God is he which cometh down from heaven, 

 and giveth life to the world." They did not 

 comprehend very much what he meant— 

 probably they didn't care; but they replied 

 promptly, "Well, give us this bread;'' or, 

 in other words, " All right ; let us have this 

 bread you tell about ; we are ready for it." 

 They thought they were, but they were not, 

 any more than you and I are when we in our 

 prayers ''ask God to bring us near to him, 

 even though the way be through crosses and 

 trials. Now Jesus replies to them, "I am 

 the bread of life ; he that cometh to me shall 

 never hunger ; and he that believeth on me 

 shall never thirst." 



His meaning was something like this : 

 They Avere greedy and selfish ; their princi- 

 pal thought was of something to eat, and how 

 to get it with the least possible exertion. 

 Their wants, their pursuits, and their idea?! 

 of happiness were low and animal ; they had 

 no idea of self-sacrfice ; they had no idea of 

 bearing burdens for the general good of hu- 

 manity. He calls them to think of higher 

 things. He tells them if they devote their 

 lives to the pursuit of food and drink, and 

 something to wear, they are seeking for that 

 which is short-lived anil unsatisfying. " La- 

 bor not for the meat which perisheth," he 

 says to them, "' but for that meat which en- 

 dureth mito everlasting life." To make it 

 plainer, let us consider humanity as it grows 

 up untrained. We sit down at the table. 

 The Avhole family are present, perhaps aunts 

 and cousins. As soon as the blessing is 

 asked, Huber calls out, "I want some 

 beans." Now, I do not want our children to 

 grow up selfish, and thinking of themselves 

 first; and as I rebuke the little fellow, 

 whom we all love so niucli, I state it to him 

 in this way : " Do you want some before 

 cousin Mabel has any?" He sees the point 

 at once. Cousin Mabel is a guest for the 

 time being, and his own good sense, and I 

 hope his former teaching, tells him that a 

 guest should be treated with honor and pref- 

 erence. When the question is fairly before 

 him, whether he shall have some beans first 

 of any one, even to the exclusion of cousin 

 Mabel, whom he loves, baby even though he 

 is, he sticks his tongue off to one side of his 

 mouth, and casts his eyes downwaM a little, 

 ashamed of himself. Perhaps he does not 

 answer in words ; but I know by his looks 

 that his little thoughts are running some- 

 thing in this way : 



" No, papa, I do not want to be waited on 

 before cousin Mabel is. I want to be a good 

 boy, and not a selfish one." 



Now, this multitude to whom Jesus was 

 speaking was a selfish multitude. They 

 were in the habit of being greedy. Many of 

 them, perhaps, Avere guilty of gross crimes 

 in giving way to tliese untrained animal im- 

 pulses. Jesus tells them that, although he 

 could, by his mere Abolition, call forth bread 

 in unlimited quantity, it Avould not be for 

 their own good. " Come, follow me," he 

 says; "doii't be thinking all the time of 

 something to gratify your OAvn selfish appe- 

 tites. Taste the joys, and experience for a 

 little time the blessedness of laboring for 

 the good of others. FoIIoav me, and I will 

 make you fishers of men." Now, if you Avill 

 read this whole chapter through, and all 

 along through John, you will notice how- 

 hard Christ labored and tanglit to give them 

 a glimpse of the blessedness of a life devoted 

 to the good of the people, or to the saving 

 of souls, if you choose. 



We are most of us seeking pleasure in 

 some form or other in this world. We are 

 thinking of that Avhich will give us the most 

 happiness ; and in a certain sense it is right 

 Ave should do so. We are human and full of 

 Avants, and full of likes and dislikes. We 

 like to enjoy ourseh-es, and we like to give 

 full sway to the faculties God has given us 

 in the enjoyment of pleasure. Now, Avliat 



