The Tillage of the Poor

 •  1 min. read  •  grade level: 7
 
The Lord abhors the trafficking in unfelt truth. In heaven there may be ignorance, or want of knowledge, but no such thing as the possession of unfelt truth. The angels are heavenly creatures, but they confess their ignorance by their desire to know (1 Pet. 1:1212Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into. (1 Peter 1:12)). Ignorant of certain truths they are, but not uninterested about them.
A little knowledge with personal exercise of spirit over it is better than much knowledge without it. As the proverb says, "Much food is in the tillage of the poor," for the poor make the most of their little. They use the spade, the hoe, and the mattock; they weed, and they dress, and they turn up their little garden of herbs. And their diligence gets much food out of it. And we are to be these "poor" ones, ever to use divine Scripture as they carry out their tillage, and make the most of our little. It may be but milk we feed on, but if we use our diligence to put aside malice and hypocrisies and envies, and the like, we shall be really feeding and growing (1 Pet. 2). And because of this, much more savor of Christ do we often find in those who have less knowledge, for theirs is this "tillage of the poor" (Prow. 13:23)