BORROW.
By G.W.S.Ware.
June,25,’39.
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Borrow: To obtain, a thing on loan.
Once, a borrowed ax flew off the handled and sank in the river Jordan, and a prophet of
God made it swim on water–the only instance, in all history. Before this the Jewish
women were commanded to borrow from the Egyptian women, and carry all of it with them out
of Egypt. Those Jewish women, doubless, had paid for it many times over in labor. When any
thing is borrowed and lost, God demands it shall be paid for. Once, a long time ago, I
borrow a new one-horse wagon to take my wife and our young children to visit my sister
Sallie some 14 miles away. My horse caused a shaft to break short off. This, mared the joy
of our visit, but I patched the shaft to get back home; then traveled eight miles, and
paid four dollars for a new shaft,then took my neighbor’s wagon home. I think those
four dollars, I needed so bad, has paid good interest to my conscience, these 40 odd years
since. The good deacon, who owned that wagon told me, That a preacher would borrow money
from a neighbor, when he went off to his appointments, and pay it back when he returned
home. Finally the neighbor noticed that the preacher would return the same bills of money
he borrowed and asked him about it, and the preacher explained, that he was paid no money
for his work in preaching, hence he had to return the same money. Then, his neighbor ask:
Why do you borrow the money? The preacher replied, Neighbor, I find that I can preach
better with some money in my pocket. No, I never tried that stunt in preaching, but I find
it easy to sympathize with that preacher, in his hard life to preach and do manual labor
to support his family.
No, when we get to Heaven, we will not be there with a borrowed eternal LIFE, or
clothes, or glory, or in a home not made by hands, or LOVE of God. All these and more,
will be the free gifts of God.
