Family Churchman John 4:35-38 Say not you, There are yet four months, and then comes harvest? behold, I say to you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields… We enter upon life weak, unconscious infants, depending every moment on other eyes to watch for us, and other hands to minister to us, while we kindle in their hearts the most powerful emotions. But not less dependent are we on our fellow-creatures for our continuance in life from the cradle to the grave. There is not a thread of clothing which covers our body, not a luxury that is placed on our table, not an article which supplies the means of labour, not one thing which is required of us as civilized beings, but involves the labours of others on our behalf; while by the same law we cannot but contribute to their well-being. The cotton which the artizan weaves or wears has been cultivated by brothers beneath a tropical sun and possibly beneath a tyrant's lash. The tea he drinks has been gathered for him by brothers in distant China. A mother writes a letter to her son in some distant spot in India, and conveys it in silence to the post. office, perhaps thinking only when she may receive a reply. But how much is done before that letter reaches its destination! The hands of unknown brethren will receive and transmit it; rapid trains will convey it over leagues of railways; splendid steamships will sail with it. It is watched day and night, through calm and hurricane; and precious lives are risked to keep it in security until, in safety, after months of travel, it is delivered from the mother's hand into that of her boy. (Family Churchman.) Parallel Verses KJV: Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest. |
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