"This is said to the well-doer. To one even who is no novice in well-doing; but has been some time engaged in deeds of beneficence. You have begun well; you have gone on well; but persevere.
It may be that your kindness is not appreciated; that your self-denial for the sake of others is even ridiculed; that your motives are misrepresented; and that the more you love, the less you are loved. But your well-doing is not well-doing if it be gone about chiefly for the sake of man's appreciation. He doeth well whose labors of love are amply rewarded by the smile of God."
— George Bowen (1816–1888) · The White Sadhu of Bombay"He doeth well whose labors of love are amply rewarded by the smile of God."
— George Bowen · The only audience that matters. The only reward that lasts."If you do good to others, don't expect to be rewarded or appreciated. You give because that is what Jesus says to do. 'Give, and it shall be given to you.'"
"Consider that Christ was not weary in well-doing, though his love was exhibited under the most adverse circumstances imaginable. Perhaps you may find on reflection that he has been remarkably persevering in his efforts to do good to you.
Did you ever go to the door of some poor miserable degraded being, and knock and knock; and when driven from the door by a shower of reproaches, return at the first opportunity and knock and knock; and being again thrust back with your undesired gifts, still return and endeavor to gain admission?
Hardly. But has there not been some such persistency as this on the part of Christ, in his efforts to recover you from the degradation of sin and the darkness of unbelief?"
— George Bowen (1816–1888)✦ Knock and Knock
Bowen puts the mirror in front of us. We would not return to a door that slammed in our face. We would not carry gifts back to someone who threw them on the ground. We would not knock a third time after being reproached twice. But Christ does. Revelation 3:20 — Behold, I stand at the door and knock. Not once. Not twice. Persistently. Remarkably. Under the most adverse circumstances imaginable.
The soul that was raised an atheist. The soul that knew nothing. The soul whose imagination was attached to the world. And God knocked. No reason for Him to do so — but He did. And He did not stop when the door stayed closed. He returned and knocked again until the door opened at midnight in a hospital in Lubbock, Texas.
"God makes his sun to rise and run his daily course through the skies that you may be lighted along the path of duty; but how often does that sun arise and pour his deluge of light around you, without any other thoughts arising in your own mind than such as relate to your own pleasure.
The marvel is that God should not be weary of doing good to such a one.
When you are ready to get weary of your paltry beneficences, think that you are suggesting to God that it is not worth while to continue blessing the race to which you belong."
— George Bowen (1816–1888)"The marvel is that God should not be weary of doing good to such a one."
— George Bowen · The sun from June 9 returns — intercepted but never withheld, and never weary✦ The Sun Never Grows Weary
Bowen's sun returns from June 9 in Beauvoir. The sun that exists only to dispense. The beams that are intercepted but never withheld. Now seen from the other side: the sun rises every morning and pours its deluge of light — and most mornings it goes unnoticed. God's well-doing poured out daily and mostly unappreciated. The marvel is not that we grow weary. The marvel is that God does not.
And the rebuke is the sharpest of the morning: when we tire of our paltry beneficences, we suggest to God that giving is not worth it. And if giving is not worth it — then His giving, too, is in question. Every time we grow weary in well-doing, we cast doubt on the well-doing that sustains us.
The Smile of God
The only audience that matters. Well-doing done for man's appreciation is not well-doing. He doeth well whose labors are rewarded by the smile of God alone.
Knock and Knock
Christ at the door. Reproached, refused, thrust back with His undesired gifts — and returning. Remarkably persevering. We would not knock a third time. He never stops.
The Unwearied Sun
God's sun rises every morning, mostly unnoticed. The marvel is not our weariness but His inexhaustible patience. To tire of giving is to suggest that God should tire too.