“Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost." (John 6:12.)
SCARCELY a breath of air stirred the leaves of the poplar-trees on the lawn in front of Grove House; but the sun blinds that shaded the open windows gave a pleasant sense of coolness to the dining-room, where the young people who attended Miss Lang's Bible Class were in the habit of assembling.
Dora Hilton and Grace Bell were among the first arrivals, and so enjoyed the pleasure, as Dora told her mother on her return home, "of having Miss Lang all to themselves for a few minutes before it was time for the Class to begin.”
Miss Lang could hardly have been called young; though not past middle life, threads of silver were plainly seen in her dark brown hair, and sorrow had left its traces on her thoughtful face.
The girls loved her dearly, each one felt she had a special place in the affection of her teacher, and there were few if any in the class who had not learned to value her love and sympathy.
The room was almost full when the marble time-piece struck the hour of three, and Miss Lang took her seat. In a moment every voice was hushed, and a deep feeling of solemnity seemed to come over the Class as Miss Lang prayed in a very simple, but earnest, manner that the blessing of the Lord might rest on their Bible reading, so that every soul that loved the precious Savior might behold new beauty in Him: that anxious ones might be led into peace, and careless ones, if such were present, aroused to see clearly their personal need of salvation.
Then Bibles were opened at the sixth chapter of the Gospel by John, and Miss Lang read the account of Christ feeding the five thousand. (John 6:1-14.) Then she said, "I do not think it will be very difficult for those of our number who live in the country to picture for themselves the scene of which we have been reading. Let us look at it for a moment.
“Far and wide through the pleasant land of Judea the fame of the great Teacher had gone forth. While few, perhaps very few, really knew the Lord Jesus as the Son of God, many must have seen His wonderful works, and still larger numbers have heard how He had healed the sick, cleansed the leper, given sight to the blind, raised the dead.
“A crowd had collected, some from their houses on lonely hill-sides, others from the villages, and perhaps a few from the towns. A common object had drawn them together: they all wanted to see the Lord perform some miracle, as well as to listen to His words. And may we not believe that some weary hearts really longed to drink of the living waters of which Christ had spoken to Samaria's daughter?
“The people followed the Lord to the hill country, near the Sea or Lake of Galilee. Will some one kindly point it out on the map of Palestine? Thank you, Grace. There it is, you see: it is one of the lakes through which the river Jordan passes, and you will all remember that in the gospels it is sometimes called the Sea of Tiberias, at others the Lake of Gennesaret. Much of our Lord's public life was passed in the neighborhood of this lake.
“On the occasion of which we are speaking, they could not have been far from the fishing village of Bethsaida. The heart of Christ was full of compassion for all those tired, hungry people. We are told by John that the number of men was about five thousand; and we can hardly be wrong in thinking that it was considerably added to by women and children.
“The Lord knew just how He was going to feed all those hungry people. His resources were more than equal to their need; but He wanted His disciples to be in fellowship with Himself. So He turned to Philip with the question, Whence shall we buy bread that these may eat?
“Now, if you look at John 6:44, you will see that Philip came from Bethsaida, so, of course, he would know just what was to be had in the place.
“His answer shows plainly he thought the outlook was anything but a bright one. Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little.' Two hundred pennyworth would have cost about £6 5s in English money, and would indeed have been a large sum to have been possessed by that little company.
“Another Bethsaida man, Andrew, then told the Lord how small a stock of food was at His disposal, saying, 'There is a lad here which hath five barley loaves and two small fishes.' We almost seem to hear the sadness of his tone in the words that follow, but what are they among so many? '
“We are not told the name of the boy who brought the food, or where his home was. But we know the customs in Bible lands do not change very quickly, and those who have visited them tell us that little boys are often sent out by their parents to sell food: sometimes a kind of sweet-cake made with honey and flour, and much liked by the grown-up people as well as the children. Sometimes their stock-in-trade, which they carry in large flat baskets made from the bark of the palm-tree, consists only of bread and fish.
“You must not think the loaves were such as we see in the bakers' shops and on our tables. Loaves in Bible lands are what we should call rolls, or small flat cakes of barley meal, rolled out very thin, and often baked among the hot ashes on the hearth. So it is easy for us to understand why such bread was always broken; it would have been impossible to cut it.
“We are told by some who read the gospels in Greek, the language in which they were written, that the word translated `fishes' is one used only when a very small fish is intended to be eaten as a relish, as we eat a sprat or sardine.
“We should not think two such fish enough for one person, so we cannot wonder at the question asked by Andrew, What are they among so many?'
“But the One who said, ‘Give ye them to eat' (Luke 9:13), was the One who could also say, ‘All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.' (Matt. 28:18.) As Son of God, the Lord Jesus used His power for those weary, fainting ones. In His hands the five barley loaves and two small fishes became enough and to spare. When all were satisfied, the Giver of the feast said, ‘Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost;' and obedient to His word, They gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves which remained over and above unto them that had eaten.' (John 6:13) And it seems to me that the Savior's words, ‘Gather up the fragments,' are words alike of counsel and encouragement to the young Christians in our Class.
“‘I love the Lord Jesus, and I wish, oh so much, I could do something that would please Him,' a dear girl said to me not very long ago.
‘But,' she continued sadly, I have so little time. I go to business, and sometimes it is so late before I get home, and I am so tired, it is almost more than I can do just to read a few verses in my Bible; and very often I am so sleepy I can't understand or remember what I have read.'
“But you own you have a little time, Annie, I answered brightly, Gather up the fragments;' and I think you will soon be surprised to find how rich in opportunities of doing little kindnesses, of speaking words that cheer and comfort, your life has grown. Have you ever noticed we are told to `Let our light shine' (Matt. 5:16)? Not to make it shine: the Lord Himself must do that. One cold, dark day, last winter, I stood to watch a lamplighter going his rounds. Everything looked cheerless and uncomfortable; but as he came down the street he seemed just to touch the burner of first one lamp and then another with the lighted wand he carried, and clear and star-like the lamps shone out.
“And when the Lord in His grace puts light into our dark hearts, the light must shine out if we don't hinder it by our pride or self-will.
“We all have what we often call odd minutes; and it is really wonderful how many Bible verses may be learned in them; how many garments for our poor friends made; or how many letters written, if we are only careful to use them well and wisely, and not to let them slip away. Once gone they can never come again.
“‘He who is our Great Example
Let no moment run to loss;
Not one precious hour He wasted
From the manger to the cross.'
“But I am sure it is only by keeping the eye fixed on Christ, and the heart ever turning to Him with the question, ‘Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?' that we learn how to use our time for Him.
“You may have heard or read that men who are engaged in digging for gold are very careful not only of the large nuggets, or lumps of gold, but also of the smallest particles of the precious metal. A miner will sometimes spend many hours in washing with the greatest care the sand or mud of rivers, near which gold has been found, because he hopes to find a few grains of gold dust as the reward of his toil; yet how careless we often are about moments more precious far than the golden sand the miners value so highly.
“Our time is almost gone, but I want very much to say just a few words about a gift we every one possess, and for the right or wrong use of which we must one day give account. This gift we may call ‘Influence.' I think perhaps some of us would find it not an easy word to explain. Its real meaning is the power the strong have over the weak. God has placed us in different positions. But there is one question we may each ask ourselves, Are the homes in which we live, as daughters, sisters, or servants, happier because of us? Or, to put it in other words, are we shining for Christ in school or home life? Are we helping any one, even a little child, to walk in the narrow way of life? Gather up the fragments of your influence, dear girls, they are far too precious to be scattered by careless hands: remember, God entrusts to all talents, few or many.
“And if through grace we can answer to the Savior's question, ‘Lovest thou me?’" ‘Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee' (John 21:15), we are responsible to live for Him and His glory. But our lesson time is quite gone now, so I must close by pressing home a question to the heart of each one who has accepted that salvation, which is the gift of God through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Rom. 6:23.)
“How can I show my love to Christ? How in my home or among my friends and schoolfellows can I, by loving words or unselfish deeds, show that I serve a Good Master whose service is perfect freedom?”
A hymn followed, then again Miss Lang and her Class knelt in prayer, and very earnestly the teacher asked the Lord that the good seed of His precious word might not be lost, but falling on the prepared ground of believing hearts, bring forth fruit for His own glory.