The Keeper of the Spring

Posted on January 3, 2012 by russellmckinney

In a little hamlet, the town council held a meeting to discuss how to cut expenses. They studied the budget more seriously than ever before and noticed an item that had previously escaped their attention. It was a small fee that was paid each month to someone called “The Keeper of the Spring.”

As the council members tried to figure out who “The Keeper of the Spring” was and why he was paid a fee each month, only one member could even offer a clue. He said, “I think there is an old man who lives near the top of the mountain, and he cleans out all the springs and creeks that flow down to the river that fills the reservoir that provides the town’s drinking water.”

The other council members didn’t dispute the answer, but they certainly didn’t see the need to keep paying the fee. One said, “We’ve never even seen this man.” Another said, “That’s right, so how can we be sure that he’s actually doing his job?” A third added, “If he was an old man, he could be dead by now.” So, the council voted unanimously to stop paying “The Keeper of the Spring” and sent a letter of dismissal to the mountaintop address to which the fee had always been sent.

A few months later the town’s citizens began to notice that their drinking water wasn’t as clear and sparkling as it had once been. No fuss was raised, though, because it wasn’t that big a deal. More months passed and they noticed that the water’s color was now different. Still, there didn’t seem to be any cause for alarm. Then more months passed and some of the citizens started getting sick. Finally, a full-fledged epidemic broke out and some of the citizens lost their lives.

Panic now ruled the streets, and the town council voted unanimously to have a team do a thorough investigation to discover the cause of the epidemic. You can guess how the report came back: a polluted, unsafe water supply. Obviously, the town council had failed to realize just how important “The Keeper of the Spring” was. Even though they hadn’t known it, he was the true secret to the town’s livelihood and happiness.

Christian, let me encourage you to realize that Jesus Christ is “The Keeper of the Spring” for you. As long as your fellowship with Him is right, there will be a purity and vitality to your life and you will know the joy, comfort, and inner peace that are only found through Him. But if you foolishly choose to ignore Him and try to operate without Him, at some point you will have to deal with the costly fallout from your choice. Therefore, the smart move is to build your life around Jesus and let Him be “The Keeper of the Spring” for you. If you do that, you can rest assured that He will keep the issues of your life flowing clear and pure.

Posted in Backsliding, Comfort, Commitment, Discipleship, Encouragement, Faithfulness, God's Provision, Inner Peace, Joy, Needs, Personal Holiness, Priorities, Sanctification, Trusting In God | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

The Christian & His New Year’s Resolutions

Posted on December 31, 2011 by russellmckinney

A boy was running along a beach gathering up the best seashells he could find. As he bent down to pick up a certain shell, he caught sight of the biggest, most beautiful shell he had ever seen. It was just ahead of him as he made his way up the shoreline. The boy thought to himself, “I won’t go and get that one right now. I’ll just keep making my way to it, picking up shells as I go.”

So, he continued along with his collecting, making steady progress toward that big, beautiful shell. But what happened just as he got to the shell? A huge wave came crashing into the shore and took the shell back out to sea.

Each New Year’s Day most of us make certain resolutions. Truth be told, though, those resolutions typically don’t get kept. And when the next New Year’s Day comes crashing upon the shores of our lives and recedes back out into time, it takes with it all of those big, beautiful resolutions that were still lying there.

That brings us to the link between New Year’s Day and Christianity. For the Christian, New Year’s resolutions often take on a spiritual connotation. For example, the Christian might commit to read the Bible more, pray more, give more, or attend church more. While such resolutions are fine in and of themselves, there is one thing that every Christian needs to understand: If a resolution becomes a “vow” to God, that puts it into a much more serious category. Consider the words of Ecclesiastes 5:4-5:

When you make a vow to God, do not delay to pay it; For He has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you have vowed – better not to vow than to vow and not pay. (N.K.J.V.)

Christian, keep this passage in mind this New Year if you plan to make any spiritual resolutions that might be considered vows to God. I’m not telling you not to make such resolutions, but I am pointing out that God’s word does have something to say on this subject. Because of that, if you are going to go down that road, be sure that you are honestly prepared to travel it to its end.

Posted in Bible Study, Church Attendance, Commitment, Faithfulness, New Year, Personal Holiness, Prayer | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Burning Your Ships

Posted on December 30, 2011 by russellmckinney

Hernando (Hernan) Cortez was a Spanish Conquistador who launched ships from Spanish-held Cuba to conquer Mexico in 1519. That brought about the demise of the great Aztec empire. According to legend, when Cortez first landed on the shores of Mexico, he commanded his men to burn the ships. The burning made retreat impossible and has thus become the classic historical example of going “all in” for an endeavor.

Truth be told, many historians doubt the validity of the legend. Some of them contend that Cortez did purposely render his ships unsuitable for sailing but didn’t burn them. According to the theory, he did this because he didn’t want his men to mutiny and return to the safe haven of Cuba. Others say that the idea of Cortez burning the ships stems from a poor translation of the Latin in which the story was written. But, hey, let’s not let the facts get in the way of a great story!

If you like the idea of going full bore into something by “burning your ships,” there’s a Bible story that fits that bill. It’s the one about God parting the Red Sea for Moses and the Israelites to facilitate their escape from Pharaoh’s army. You’ll find that story in Exodus chapter 14.

Exodus 14:21 says that God divided the waters and turned the sea into dry land by means of a strong east wind that blew all night. In Exodus 15:8, Moses describes this wind as the blast of God’s nostrils. Isn’t that great? And so, the people of Israel passed through the Red Sea on dry land. Then what happened? The Egyptian army pursued them into that same dry land only to be drowned in the depths when the waters came crashing back into place once the Israelites were safely on the opposite shore.

Okay, now here’s where I’m going with this. When those waters thundered back down and closed the pathway through that sea, that was God slamming the door shut on the Israelites possibly returning to Egypt. You see, it wasn’t just His way of slaying Egypt’s army, it was also His way of forcing the Israelites to forge onward into a new day. Going back to Cortez legend, it was God burning Israel’s ships.

As you read this, perhaps God has pushed you out into a new adventure but you are considering returning back to more comfortable ground. All I’ll say is that if you genuinely believe the adventure is of the Lord, don’t try to return to Egypt. For one thing, there’s nothing for you back there. For another, it doesn’t take much faith to live in Egypt. That life just is what it is, what it’s always been for you. But it takes a high degree of faith to let God lead you step by step into a new, uncharted land. Therefore, a good prayer for you to pray right now might go something like this, “Lord, if you want me to continue on with this adventure, close up the waters behind me so that I’ll have to stay here in this new land. And then help me make it here.”

Posted in Adversity, Change, Choices, Courage, Decisions, Disappointment, Faith, Fear, God's Provision, God's Will, Perseverance, Prayer, Prayer Requests, Problems, Trials, Trusting In God, Worry | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Remembering Your Homeland & Culture

Posted on December 28, 2011 by russellmckinney

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. (Romans 12:2, N.K.J.V.)

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world — the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life — is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever. (1 John 2:15-17, N.K.J.V.)

An Englishman went to visit his longtime friend, a British military officer who was stationed in an African jungle. When he finally arrived at the officer’s hut and entered it, he was startled to find his friend dressed in formal clothing and seated at a table beautifully set with polished silverware and fine china. Such a scene simply didn’t seem in keeping with a jungle location.

When the Englishman asked the officer why he was all dressed up and seated at such a table in the middle of a jungle, the officer answered: “Once a week I follow this routine to remind myself of who I am – a British citizen. I want to maintain the customs of my real home and live according to the codes of British conduct, no matter how those around me live. I want to avoid substituting a foreign culture for that of my homeland.”

The parallel to living the Christian life is obvious. Even though we Christians are currently stationed in a foreign land, we are still citizens of the kingdom of heaven. As the Bible says, we are “strangers and pilgrims on the earth” (Hebrews 11:13) but “our citizenship is in heaven” (Philippians 3:20). These facts are not in question. What is in question is whether or not we are substituting the foreign culture of this world for that of our homeland.

Posted in Backsliding, Character, Commitment, Desires, Discipleship, Doing Good, Dress and Appearance, Eternity, Faithfulness, Heaven, Personal Holiness, Priorities, Worship | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

When a Strength Becomes a Weakness

Posted on December 26, 2011 by russellmckinney

It is paradoxical, as well as sad, that God’s servant will often fail in the very area in which he or she is normally strong. The Bible offers us several case studies of this strange fact. Let me share three of those examples with you.

I’ll start with Abraham. He was a man who exhibited enough faith to pack up his belongings, leave his hometown of Ur, and begin an epic journey to an unknown land God promised to show him (Genesis 12:1-5). But what happened when Abraham arrived in that promised land of Canaan? He was greeted there by a famine. So what did he do? He lost faith that God would provide for him during that famine and went down to Egypt. There in Egypt, he showed his lack of faith in God’s protection by instructing his beautiful wife, Sarai, to lie by saying that she was his sister (Genesis 12:10-20). And would you believe that he even repeated this exact same sin many years later when he was in Gerar and dealing with Abimelech, the king of Gerar (Genesis 20:1-18)? What happened to your great faith, Abraham?

Next, I’ll mention Moses. He was a very mild-mannered man who certainly didn’t have a problem with ego or bravado. As a matter of fact, we can read Exodus chapters 3 and 4 and see that it was all that God could do to get him to return to Egypt and lead Israel. Moses was quick to say, “Lord, who am I to be such a leader? I am not an eloquent man. Please, send whomever else you will.” Numbers 12:3 even says that Moses was more humble (meek, gentle, kind) than all men who were on the face of the earth. That’s an amazing statement! But how did Moses ultimately get himself into trouble and miss out on entering into the promised land of Canaan himself? In a fit of anger and rage, he rebuked the people and struck the rock twice when God had commanded him to merely speak to it. He also spoke as if he and Aaron, rather than God, caused the water to gush from the rock (Numbers 20:1-13). What happened to your great humility, Moses?

Lastly, I’ll mention Elijah. He showed astounding courage in going to Ahab, the king of Israel, and proclaiming, “As the Lord God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except at my word” (1 Kings 17:1). He showed just as much courage, if not more, in taking on and defeating Ahab’s prophets of Baal in a great showdown atop Mount Carmel (1 Kings 18:20-40). But what did he do right on the heels of that landmark victory? He heard that Ahab’s queen, Jezebel, had put a death sentence on his head and he fled. Then, when he reached a certain place out there in the wilderness, he prayed and asked God to take his life (1 Kings 19:1-4). What happened to your great courage, Elijah?

If it sounds like I’m picking on Abraham, Moses, and Elijah, I’m not. The fact is, these are just three of a lengthy list of Bible characters who failed in the very areas in which they were normally strong. This should teach us that we ourselves aren’t immune to this particular problem. So, do you have an area in which you are especially strong in your walk with the Lord? If you do, be sure to keep yourself vigilant in that area. Don’t let yourself become overconfident to the point where you drop your guard. Remember, if it happened to the likes of Abraham, Moses, and Elijah, it can happen to you.

Posted in Adversity, Backsliding, Courage, Faith, Fear, Humility, Individuality, Personal Holiness, Pride, Sin | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

A Little Fun At Christmas

Posted on December 24, 2011 by russellmckinney

A little boy decided that it was time that he started wearing a watch, so that he could look grown up like his dad. Several weeks before Christmas he started telling his parents, “I want a watch for Christmas.” Day after day he would find some way to work that request into a conversation. It finally got to the point where his dad was tired of hearing about that watch. He said, “Son, knock it off. We know that you want a watch for Christmas. We’ve heard.” So the boy hushed about it.

Three days before Christmas the family sat down to a typical evening meal. The boy said, “Daddy, may I say the prayer over this food?” The father was stunned because the boy had never offered to pray before, but he proudly consented. Once everyone had bowed their heads, the boy began: “Oh Lord, we thank You for this food. We thank you for all Your other blessings too, blessings such as Your word. And we know that in Mark 13:37 Jesus says something very important. He says, ‘And what I say to you, I say to you all: WATCH!'”

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Posted in Christmas, Humor | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

The Peace That Jesus Brings

Posted on December 23, 2011 by russellmckinney

In my last post I explained that even though Christ’s birth didn’t actually usher in a time of “peace on earth,” prophecy teaches that one day He will bring in such a time, one thousand years worth of it to be exact. Now, with this post, I want to explain that Christ’s birth did usher in a time when the individual who believes in Him as Savior can come to know a personal peace.

First, this personal peace involves the believer being at peace with God, his Maker. The classic verse on this is Romans 5:1:

Therefore, having been justified by faith (referring to faith in Christ), we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. (N.K.J.V.)

I’m reminded of that story about the preacher who asked the man, “Have you made peace with God?” The man answered, “I didn’t know that we were fighting.” Well, the fact is that every member of the human race is born fighting with God. Romans 3:10-12 says:

There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one. (N.K.J.V.)

Yes, the sinner is at war with holy God. That’s the bad news. But the good news is that Jesus, through His shed blood (Colossians 1:19-20), has laid a peace treaty on the table for any individual who will sign it. Isaiah 53:5 describes it so beautifully:

But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for out iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. (N.K.J.V.)

Second, this personal peace involves the believer being at peace with himself. Christ’s words from John 14:27 refer to this kind of inner peace. He says to His disciples:

Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

In a recent series of devotions, my friend Malcolm Woody has been dissecting Philippians chapter 4, specifically as the verses relate to the inner peace of the believer. The devotions have driven home to me afresh and anew the fact that inner peace is there for the taking if the believer desires it. But even as I read those devotions each day it didn’t dawn on me that there was one particular area of my life concerning which I didn’t have an inner peace. It wasn’t until my brother Richie pointedly said to me the other day, “You just don’t a peace about you right now,” that I came to grips with the truth of that statement. I feel like the Lord worked through Malcolm’s devotions to set me on a tee and then He worked through Richie to whack me out of the park. Since my conversation with Richie, I’ve really been working hard at accessing the inner peace that I am afforded in Jesus as it relates to that one troublesome area of my life.

Christian, I gave you that bit of personal testimony to let you know that I speak from personal experience when I ask you if your heart is troubled about something right now. Is there some circumstance, some situation, some problem in your life for which you have no inner peace? If there is, you are, as I was, living beneath your privilege because you aren’t abiding in the peace that Jesus has given you. You need to repent of your worrying. You need to give up on trying to control things you can’t control. Most of all, you need to put your complete trust in your sovereign Savior and let His peace well up from inside you and begin to dominate your life as it should. A troubled heart and the peace that Jesus has given you just can’t coexist. We, as Christians, should obey the command of Colossians 3:15 and “let the peace of God rule in our hearts.”

Third, this personal peace involves the believer being at peace with others. Ephesians 2:14 plays off the fact that in the Jewish temple there was a wall that separated the Court of the Gentiles from the areas that were exclusively for the Jews. The verse says of Jesus:

For He Himself is our peace, who made both (the Jew and the Gentile) one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation. (N.K.J.V.)

In Bible times, it would have been impossible to imagine two more different people than the Jew and the Gentile. They were completely different races. They came from radically different backgrounds. They had strikingly different customs. And yet, through Jesus, the Jew and the Gentile could now be at peace with each other. This proves that, through Jesus, the Christian can peaceably get along with others. Jesus Himself says in Mark 9:50, “…have peace with one another.” Hebrews 12:14 chimes right in with that by saying, “…Pursue peace with all people.” And in 1 Thessalonians 5:13, Paul says to the Christians of Thessalonica, “Be at peace among yourselves.”

On the heels of such verses, you know what I’m going to ask you: “Are you fighting with someone right now? Is there a person with which you currently are not at peace?” If there is, let me encourage you to do all that you can to make peace with them, whoever they are. Remember that in His Sermon on the Mount Jesus taught that His followers (whom He called sons of God) should be “peacemakers” (Matthew 5:9). That means you, Christian. I’ll also quote Paul again here too. In Romans 12:18, he says:

If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. (N.K.J.V.)

These words certainly ring true for any time of the year, but surely they ring all the more true for this season of Christmas. How can a Christian properly celebrate the birth of his Savior, the Peace-Giver, if he is at war with a fellow human being? I know, I know, Paul said “If it is possible…”, and maybe you are saying, “It’s just not possible with that person.” Well, maybe it isn’t, and maybe you and that person will never want to climb into a car and take a road-trip together, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t at least do your part to make peace. At the very least, you can stop throwing gasoline onto the fire and making the relationship worse. Ask Jesus to help you to know exactly what to do and what not to do, and trust that He will. Take heart in the fact that peace between yourself and others is one of the kinds of peace that He died to bring you.

Posted in Adversity, Attitude, Christ's Birth, Christmas, Doing Good, Extending Forgiveness, Inner Peace, Personal, Personal Holiness, Salvation, The Sermon On The Mount, Trusting In God, Worry | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Peace On Earth?

Posted on December 22, 2011 by russellmckinney

What was it those angels said on the night of Christ’s birth? The New King James Version of Luke 2:14 renders it: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!” That translation simply follows the classic King James Version. Other translations, however, do a better job of conveying the meaning of the original Greek. Consider the following:

-The New America Standard: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.”

-The New International Version: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”

-The Revised Standard Version: “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!”

-The Holman Christian Standard: “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to people He favors!”

In case you are wondering why it’s important to nail down the translation so precisely, it’s because there are those who try to make something of the fact that Christ’s birth really didn’t bring peace on earth. Obviously, there have been untold numbers of wars since His birth, just as there were untold numbers of them before His birth. But as we see in these various other translations of the angels’ quote, this argument reads something into the quote that actually isn’t there.

You see, the angels weren’t saying that there would be peace on earth. That wrong idea sprang from the inferior translation of the cherished King James Version. If the angels really were saying that Christ’s birth would bring peace on earth, why did Jesus Himself prophesy that the future would bring “wars and rumors of wars” and that “nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom”? (Matthew 24:6-7) Even more than that, why did He flatly say, “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword”? (Matthew 10:34)

Still, what we need to understand is that there will come a time when there will be peace on earth, and Jesus will be the cause of it. That time will be His 1,000-year reign upon this earth. Isaiah 2:4 describes it this way:

He shall judge between the nations, and rebuke many people. They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. (N.K.J.V.)

Of course, Christ’s 1,000 year reign isn’t here yet, is it? And according to Bible prophecy, a lot has to happen before it gets here. A detailed list of events and proof texts would go on for pages, but here at least are the major highlights:

-There has to be Christ’s snatching away of His people in what is called the Rapture. (1 Corinthians 15:50-58, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)

-There has to be the rise of the Antichrist and his right hand man the False Prophet. (Revelation 13:1-18)

-There has to be a seven-year Tribulation period. (Daniel 9:20-27, Revelation chapters 6 through 18)

-There has to be a Battle of Armageddon that climaxes the Tribulation period. (Revelation 16:12-16, 19:19)

-There has to be Christ’s Second Coming to literally walk this earth again and win the battle of Armageddon. (Revelation 19:11-21)

-There has to be the capturing of the Antichrist and the False Prophet and their banishing to the eternal lake of fire. (Revelation 19:20)

-There has to be the binding of Satan and the imprisoning of Him in the bottomless pit for the 1,000 years of Christ’s earthly reign. (Revelation 20:1-3)

-There has to be the great dividing between the living “lost” (those who took the so-called “mark of the beast” during the tribulation period and lived to see the end of the period) from the living “saved” (those who accepted Christ as Savior during the Tribulation period and lived to see the end of the period). (Matthew 25:31-46, Revelation 13:11-18)

-There has to be Christ’s formal establishing of His Kingdom throne in Jerusalem. (Psalm 2:6-12, Zephaniah 3:14-15, Isaiah 9:6-7, Jeremiah 23:5-6, Daniel 2:44)

And so, as we can see, this world isn’t anywhere near ready for Jesus to reign over it in peace. As a matter of fact, the death tolls that will come from the battles and wars during the Tribulation period will be almost beyond belief (Revelation 6:3-8, 7:9-17, 9:13-19). But world peace truly is coming one day. And who will bring it in? Not surprisingly, it will be the One who was born on that starry night so long ago. He is, after all, the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6).

Posted in Angels, Christ's Second Coming, Christ's Birth, Christ's Return, Christmas, Coming Judgment, God's Timing, King James Only, Prophecy | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

An Underappreciated Part of the Gift

Posted on December 20, 2011 by russellmckinney

In Africa, a missionary teacher did her best to explain the meaning of the Christmas holiday to her children. As a part of her explanation, she told them that Christians give presents to each other at Christmas as a way of symbolizing that God the Father gave mankind the greatest gift of all in Jesus Christ. One boy in particular seemed fascinated by her words.

When Christmas day came, that boy brought the teacher a gift – an extraordinarily beautiful sea shell. She asked him, “Where did you find such a beautiful shell?” In reply, he told her that shells of that kind could only be found in one place, in a bay several miles away. She said, “But you shouldn’t have gone that far just to get a gift for me.” He answered in his broken English, “Long walk part of gift.”

I can’t read that illustration and not think of how Jesus left the glorious splendor of heaven and His throne at the right hand of God the Father to descend down into time, history, and the human race and have an animal’s feeding trough as his first crib. As 2 Corinthians 8:9 puts it:

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.

You see, Jesus was the “gift” in those famous words: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). I suppose then we might loosely say of Him, “Long walk part of gift.”

Posted in Christ's Birth, Christmas | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

What Two Boys Can Teach Us About Christmas

Posted on December 19, 2011 by russellmckinney

One of my favorite Christmas illustrations is a true story that took place many years ago in Paines Hollow, New York. There was a thirteen-year-old boy who attended Mohawk Central School in that city. One year, at Christmastime, he heard an appeal for contributions to Santa Claus Anonymous, a group that provided gifts for poor children who would otherwise not receive any Christmas presents. The boy truly felt for the underprivileged children and desperately wanted to contribute some money to the cause. So, he scrimped and saved wherever he could and managed to come up with fifteen cents to contribute. He figured that it wasn’t much but at least it was something.

Unfortunately for the boy, a blizzard buried the area in snow on the last day before school dismissed for Christmas vacation. The buses couldn’t run, which meant that he couldn’t get to school to put in his fifteen cents. Undeterred, he made the long walk through the deep snow to personally deliver the money to the school principal. As the principal graciously accepted the meager offering, he could barely hold back the tears in his eyes. You see, that boy was one of the impoverished children on the list to receive a Christmas present from Santa Claus Anonymous.

Several years ago, on a Thursday night, our oldest son, Ryan, had a j.v. basketball game. Tonya and I went to the game, but we left our then ten-year-old, Royce, with Tonya’s parents. When the game was over, I went and got Royce, and once I had him in the car it wasn’t long before I learned that he had surprises for me, Tonya, and Ryan. He had the surprises hidden in a bag, and I would have to wait until we got home for the big revealing.

After we got home, Royce excitedly gathered us into the bedroom and began handing out the surprises. As it turned out, they were Christmas ornaments he had gotten Tonya’s parents to buy when they had taken him to a store that night. Ryan got the ornament that looked like a fish because he loves fishing. Tonya got the one that said “World’s Greatest Mom.” I got the one that had the Bible on it because I am a preacher.

Were these ornaments expensive? No way. We’re not talking Hallmark collectibles here. Had Royce used his own money to pay for them? Not a chance. Grandpa and Grandma wouldn’t have heard of him paying for anything! But were those ornaments wonderful? Absolutely. The fact that they came from our little boy’s giving heart made them priceless. I was so proud of him for somehow instinctively understanding something that most of us forget: It is better to give than to receive. By the way, if that sounds familiar, it’s a quote from Jesus. Go read Acts 20:35 for your Christmas homework right now and let those words from the Savior keep you in the right spirit this holiday season.

Posted in Children, Christmas, Giving, Personal, Youth | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment