_HIDDEN MANNA_
"_I have meat to eat that ye know not of._"
--JOHN iv. 31-42.
And what sort of meat is this? The Lord found secret refreshment in
feeding other people. In vitalizing the woman of Samaria He restored His
own soul. The disciples were amazed when they returned to find that the
weariness had gone out of His face, and that He looked like one who had
been at a feast!
And that is the law of life. "_My meat is to do the will._" There is a
secret nutriment in the bread we give away. The Lord gives us to eat of
the "hidden manna" whenever we are seeking the refreshment of our fellows.
Distributed bread has a sacramental efficacy for our own souls. The man
who feeds the hungry shall himself be "satisfied as with marrow."
And these ways of service are open on every side. There are millions of
weary people waiting, like the woman at the well. "_Lift up your eyes, and
look on the fields: for they are white already to harvest!_" Be it mine to
be a minister in the mighty service, and in the ways of obedience let me
find delights and delicacies for my own soul.
"Bread of Heaven,
Feed me till I want no more!"