Today's Scripture Reading (April 11, 2024): Galatians 3
The Christian
Church is not some sort of Cosmic accident; it was always part of God's plan.
He had our salvation in mind when he told Abraham that all nations would be
blessed by him. Sometimes, I wonder if we really understand that reality. God,
do you know me? But he not only knows us, he is expecting us.
A story is told of a little girl. She was nine
and mature for her age. It was a bit of a different age, and one day, Mom
needed to go to the store. It was customary at the time for a nine-year-old to
stay alone in the house for a few minutes during the day, so Mom left her
nine-year-old daughter in charge of the house.
No sooner was the car out of the driveway than
the little girl was up in her mom's room to snoop in her drawers. She found her
mom's good jewelry box, which held all her precious things. Grandma's
engagement ring was there, along with diamond earrings and a ruby ring Grandma
had left to her mother. A couple of fancy necklaces were in the box, and the
little girl tried on each item. At the bottom of the jewelry box was a white
handkerchief. The girl carefully unfolded it, and inside was a chip from a
china plate. It seemed so out of place from everything else that was there.
Carefully, she wrapped it back up and placed it and all the other items back in
the box.
It was one of those biting mysteries. The
little girl wanted to know why her mom would keep a chip off a china plate with
her most prized possessions, but she couldn't ask because if she did, her
mother would know that her daughter had been snooping where she shouldn't have
been.
Months went by, and the mystery remained. One
night, Mom was cooking dinner and setting the table when a neighbor came
knocking at the door for a visit. The neighbor took one step inside the house
and said. "I'm sorry, I didn't know you were having company. "
Mom smiled and said, "No company tonight,
just the family." The neighbor was amazed. "If it is just the family,
why are you using your best china dishes? Aren't you afraid that they will get
broken?"
Mom shook her head. "I'm making their
favorite supper, and I have always believed that favorites should be on the
best china. Besides, isn't the family as important as any other guests that
will ever walk into this house."
The neighbor shook her head again. "And
you're not afraid of the dishes being broken?"
"Dishes break all the time." Mom
reached up into the China cabinet and carefully took down a dish that was a
mess of cracks. "Every dish has a story. This one broke the same day we
brought our youngest home from the hospital. I wanted to celebrate, and June
wanted to help, so she did. This plate slipped out of her hands, crashed, and
broke on the floor. At first, I was angry, but then I decided I wasn't going to
let a broken dish mess up the reason why we were celebrating. Besides, June and
I would have fun gluing the dish back together. This plate (Mom removed a
second plate from the cabinet), this plate broke when I was seventeen. We were
on the farm, and Dad had hired this strong young man to come and help at
harvest. I was taken by him from the first time I saw him, his strong arms and
quick smile. My brother must have noticed. I was so mad when I came to the
supper table that night and found that the only open seat was beside this young
man, all orchestrated by my brother. Supper went on, and at one point, the
young man asked for seconds and handed me his plate. I was so nervous that I
dropped his plate. There is a chip out of it right here." Mom smiled. "Two
years later, I married him."
The little girl looked carefully at the plate,
quietly took it, and snuck off upstairs with it while the two women talked
in the kitchen. Upstairs, she went straight into her
mother's room, into her jewelry box, and
lifted up the handkerchief. Carefully, she took the broken china chip and
placed it where it was missing on the plate. It was a perfect fit.
The girl is much older than nine now. Her
mother is aging as mothers often do, and she is compiling a list of what each
daughter wants left to her in the will. The girl's sisters are asking for the
diamond ring or necklace, but all she really wanted was the china chip hidden
in the bottom of mom's jewelry box. The one that broke off the day her mom met
her dad. She knows the story.
God
doesn't just know you; he knows your story. He knows all the chips of your life,
and he treasures every one of them. He chose you and wanted to justify you by
faith, and now is your chance to choose him.
Tomorrow's Scripture
Reading: Galatians 4
Personal Note: Happy Birthday to my
sister, Cheri.
No comments:
Post a Comment