The New Life

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XXIX.
BE A BLESSING.
" Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and'
from thy father's house, unto the land that I will show thee
and I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee ;
and be thou a blessing." Gen. xii. i, 2.
these first words that God spake to Abraham, we
IN
have the short summary of all that God has to
say to him and to us as His children. We see what
the goal is to which God calls us, what the power
that carries us to that goal, and what the place where
the power is found.
Be a blessing : that is the goal for which God separates
Abraham and every believing child of His.
God would have him and us made to understand
that, when He blesses us, this is certainly not simply
to make us happy, but that we should still further
communicate His blessing.^ God Himself is love,
and therefore He blesses. Love seeketh not itself
when the love of God comes to us, it will seek others
through us.' The young Christian must from the
beginning understand that he has received grace
with the definite aim of becoming a blessing to
others. Pray, keep not for yourself what the Lord
1 Matt. V. 34, 35, X. 8, xviii. 33.
2lsa. Iviii. 10, 11 ; i Cor. xiii. 5 ; i John iv. 11.
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