Genesis 43:11

Heather Honey

Take... a little honey. Genesis 43:11.

You like honey, don't you? Up hands those who don't! Honey is very sweet so sweet that a little of it goes a long way. It is Nature's jam. God has given the world a plentiful supply of jam. Honey is the common produce of the world. The flowers and plants of all lands produce it. Canaan “flows” with it. It is said that in England there is heather enough for all the bees in the world. As for Scotland! the “heather” there is so beautiful and so abundant that Scottish poets have written about it again and again. And “Heather honey is the best” any grocer will tell you that.

1. Now, what did Jacob mean by sending, among various other things, a little honey to the governor of Egypt? It was an act of courtesy, of politeness something to sweeten the ordinary dealings of life.

All round about us nature sweetens things for us. God gives us sunshine, flowers, beautiful scenery, delicious summer breezes. Sweetening, in fact, meets us at every turn. But, strange to say, although we all get so much of it, we often give very little in return. It is a great pity; for a little honey a little politeness or courtesy goes a long way. It helps a man to make his way in the world. It makes things more pleasant for everybody. We can work wonders with just a little honey.

An old lady was once recalling the things that she remembered best about her childhood. What do you think she recalled most clearly? It was a day when she was dressing her dolls and her little sister asked her innocently, as little sisters will, what she was doing. She answered snappily, “That's a secret!” and turned her back. Poor little sister did not snap back, “You ought to tell me, I'm your sister.” Instead she said gently, “If you like I'll help you.” “I had only the grace,” said the old lady, “to answer gruffly, ‘ Thank you.' But I have never forgotten my little sister's gentle reply. It has stayed with me all these sixty years. It has often kept me from bad temper, and it has prompted me to do many little kindnesses in life.”

2. Heather honey is the best not the honey that is gathered from cultivated flowers, but what the bees bring from the hillside. And the politeness of Nature the politeness that is just a reflection of the real boy or girl is the honey we should like children to offer.

Carlyle, the Scottish philosopher, was a very great man as you know. Scotland is proud of him today. He was the most natural of men. But even the best of his friends would not have hesitated to say that he would have been even greater had he, in dealing with his friends, taken a little honey with him. He, of all men, was one who would have offered only genuine “heather honey.” The pity was he didn't do it.

3. Most of Joseph's brothers had rough natures. Any gentleness they had was driven into them by the experiences of life. But their father was of another mold. The honey Joseph's brothers took down to Egypt they got in their father's house.

And we want to see in you boys and girls the politeness or courtesy that you get from being in the company of your Heavenly Father. Some one has said, “Love, and do as you like.” That is true of loving Jesus Christ, for if you love Him, you will never be rude. Your gentleness and courtesy will be of the kind that comes from the heart the genuine “heather honey.”