The Only One
As a teacher with many years of experience in high school and college classrooms, I have observed many kinds of students. One in particular is what I call the "just me and the teacher" student. This pupil has a kind of one-on-one conversation with the teacher—almost as if no one else were in the class. The teacher's rhetorical questions, for instance, result in verbal answers from this student—oblivious to anyone else's reaction. While the class is filled with other pupils, this one seems to think it's "just me and the teacher."
Getting Personal
You may have received a letter recently and stared in surprise at the stamp. Instead of seeing the face of a famous person or historical figure, it was your brother and his dog.
Sweet Company
The elderly woman in the nursing home didn't speak to anyone or request anything. It seemed she merely existed, rocking in her creaky old chair. She didn't have many visitors, so one young nurse would often go into her room on her breaks. Without asking the woman questions to try to get her to talk, she simply pulled up another chair and rocked with her. After several months, the elderly woman said to her, "Thank you for rocking with me." She was grateful for the companionship.
The Beauty Of Silence
Written on the wall behind the pulpit of the church we attended in my teens were these words: "The Lord is in His holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before Him" (Habakkuk 2:20). And keep silence we did! All eight of us boys said nothing to one another as we sat waiting for the service to begin.
Roughed Up To Grow Up
Many Christians have to be lovingly roughed up before they will grow up. Although the heavenly Father never allows His children to suffer needlessly, sometimes He lets them experience hard knocks so they'll become mature believers.
Flee Temptation
According to Greek mythology, sirens (sea nymphs) inhabited certain Mediterranean coastal areas. As ships passed by, the sirens sang such enchanting songs that the sailors, drawn by the music, would jump overboard and drown.
Broken Cisterns
Picture yourself swinging a pick, digging from dawn to dusk, chiseling a cistern out of the hard, unyielding stone. You stay on the job, working through the biting cold of winter and the blazing heat of summer.
Our Main Calling
In our performance-driven world, Christians often assume that God's main calling on their lives is to work for Him. But working for Christ should be secondary to our devotion to Him. As Oswald Chambers warned: "The greatest competitor of devotion to Jesus is service for Him."
Spiritual Reupholstering
When we moved into our home 5 years ago, we discovered that the former owner had left us six dining room chairs. They were covered with fabric of beautiful African art—tasteful zebra stripes. We appreciated the unexpected gifts and used them frequently when entertaining guests.
