of giving; and to
be "made fat" means to be prospered and happy. If you undertake to
water a garden, you are _giving_ to the thirsty plants that which
they need to make them grow and thrive; and when it is promised that
the person who does this shall "be watered also himself," the meaning
is that he shall have given to him all that is most important to
supply his wants, and make him happy. And this, we see, is only
teaching what our Saviour taught when he said, "Give, and it shall be
given unto you." It furnishes us with another proof that "giving is
God's rule for getting."

In the nineteenth chapter of Proverbs and seventeenth verse we have a
very clear proof of the lesson we are now considering. Here we find
it said: "_He that hath pity upon the poor, lendeth unto the Lord;
and that which he hath given will he pay him again_." Having pity on
the poor, as here spoken of, means giving them such things as they
need. Whatever we use in this way God looks upon as so much money
lent unto him; and we have his solemn promise that when we lend
anything to him, in this way, "He will pay us again." And when he
pays again what has been lent to him, it is always with interest. He
pays back four, or five, or ten times as much as was lent: to him.
This proves that "giving is God's rule for getting."

One other passage is all that need be referred to in order to prove
that the lesson of liberality which our Saviour taught is the same
lesson which the Bible teaches everywhere. In Eccles. xi: 1, God
says, "_Cast thy bread upon the waters; for thou shalt find it after
many days_."

If we should see a man standing on the end of a wharf and throwing
bread upon the waters, we should think that he was a foolish man,
who was wasting his bread, or only feeding the fishes with it. But
suppose that you and I were travelling through Egypt--the land of the
celebrated pyramids and other great wonders. The famous river Nile is
there. During our visit the inundation of that river takes place. It
overflows its banks, and spreads its water over all the level plains
that border on the river. This takes place every year. And when the
fields are all overflowed with water, the farmers go out in boats,
and scatter their grain over the surface of the water. The grain
sinks to the bottom. The sediment in the water settles down on the
grain, and covers it with mud. By and by the waters flow back into
the river. The fields become dry. The grain springs up