Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.
The patriarch Jacob arrives at the same place where many years before Eliezer his grand-father’s servant came to fetch his mother Rebecca. Eliezer finds a wife for Isaac at a well; Jacob meets his wife to be Rachel at a well; and Moses will also meet his wife Tzipporah at a well. There seems to be something special in the Scriptures about finding wives, or at least meeting women at wells. It could be because in those days, if you wanted to meet a woman, the most likely place to go to was the community well where they came to draw water.
When Rebecca met Eliezer, she exerted a very great effort if not supernatural strength in drawing about one hundred fifty gallons of water for Eliezer’s camels. This was done as an answer to the servant’s prayer, but also was to be considered as an act of kindness from the House of Nahor to the House of Abraham. Whether consciously or not, in the same manner Jacob now returns the favor from House to House and exerts a great effort if not supernatural strength in lifting the stone at the mouth of the well to water Rachel’s flocks.
And what does this teach us?
The other morning I was disappointed at my son’s disregard over something I had needed him to do. He is sixteen and half so rather than scolding him for disobedience and carelessness I wanted to stress the fear of our heavenly Abba into him. I proceeded then to explain to him that life really acts as a boomerang; that whatever we dish out is exactly what returns to us. In the same way he can today ignore demands made upon him, demands he makes for his need may one day be denied to him. This is a principle written in Heaven; a principle as infallible as the law of gravity.
Many people in this life seem lonely and poor and whereas we can feel sorry for them and help them, the question remains to be asked: how have they led their lives? Was it in friendship and generosity or in meanness and selfishness? An analysis of one’s life can easily be done by looking at their friend’s attitudes towards them, that is, if they even have friends.
Measure for measure, everything returns to us, Wise King Solomon expressed it so well when he said, Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days. Give a portion to seven, or even to eight, for you know not what disaster may happen on earth (Ecclesiastes 11:1-2). Like many of the Almighty’s promises in His Words, this represents a principle that is at the same time comforting … and scary! Which is it for you?
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