A lesson from the farmer’s work
You Lave seen a farmer plow in the spring. You know how he breaks up the hard ground
so that the rain may moisten it thoroughly and make it proper food for the young, growing plants. What would happen, do you think, if he neglected his work and the ground were left hard and caked ? Even if the rain came down in tor- rents do you suppose it would penetrate to the roots so that the himdreds of little root-mouthg feehng about so eagerly for food could eat ?
No, it would simply run off the surface and do little or no good.
And suppose the farmer were a very lazy or a very careless man, and thought itwould do if he merely skimmed over the ground. Do you think that that would be an improvement? Not much of one. To be sure the rain could soak in a little farther but it would not be able to do its work as it should.
Now just so is it with the food which you eat. If you ” bolt” it, as the saying is, — that is swallow it without chewing, the saliva factories which work only or principally when the teeth work, do not pour out their fluid and moisten the food, and it consequently goes into the stomach unprepared. And if like the idle or careless farmer, you simply ” skim ” at preparing the food, that is eat hurridly and without proper mastication, (chewing it properly), it is not much better, for the saliva, moistens the food but little as it ” runs off.”
Now does it not seem that when God has given you such a wonderful mill in your mouth, you should use it properly ? Especially when its use starts up the factories that are needed so much by the food ?
A lesson from the farmer’s work