Increase Gradual Through Effort

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Matthew 13:11-12

He answered and said to them, Because it is given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.…

Why did not the Lord give us the largest measure of grace to begin with — why promise more abundance as an after result? I think it is because we value grace all the more when it comes to us by little and little. Again, it is to our good to be exercised to get more grace. A poor woman is allowed to go and glean in a field; your generosity might say, "Come, my good woman, I will give you the corn, and you shall not have the trouble of gleaning;" but this might not be so good a thing for her as to allow her to gather the wheat by her own efforts. It is often much better to enable the poor to help themselves than to help them without their own exertions. God is wise towards us; he means to give us the corn, but he decides that we shall glean it, and so exercise ourselves unto godliness. We are to become rich in grace, but it is to be by heavenly trading. Growth is gift, remember that.

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