“The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.
I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more
abundantly” (John 10:10, NKJV).
I found this article on G. Watkins’ site, gewatkins.net. I hope you
find it encouraging; I added a few thoughts at the end.
“The following bulletin article was written by Brother MorrisThurman, former preacher for the Memorial Road congregation, on June 26, 1977. It’s a great human interest story about sacrifice that bears repeating today”:
Henry Penn, the Boston florist who originated the slogan,
“Say It With Flowers,” told how one morning two boys and
a girl came into his florist shop and said: “We’re the flower
committee and we would like some nice yellow flowers,
sir. Do you have any yellow flowers? He would like them
better if they were yellow. He had a yellow sweater.”
“Are they for a funeral?” asked Penn.
The children nodded “yes” and kept back the tears. “She’s
his sister,” one of the boys explained. “He was a good kid,
a truck yesterday — we were playing in the street — we
saw it happen.”
Then the other boy added, “Us kids took up a collection.
We got eighteen cents — would roses cost a lot, mister?
Yellow roses?”
Touched by the story of the tragedy and the loyalty of the kids,
Henry Penn replied,“I have some nice yellow roses here that
I am selling for eighteen cents a dozen just this morning.”
The sympathetic florist accepted the eighteen cents, and the
committee carried away the flowers they had chosen.
Said Penn, “I felt uplifted for days. I had been given the inexpressible
privilege of sharing something.”
As Christians, we, too, have the inexpressible privilege of sharing.
“We have this treasure in earthen vessels” (2 Corinthians 4:7).
We are ambassadors for Christ,as though God were pleading through us.”
To share the glorious Good News of salvation in Christ, “we implore you on
Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God” (2 Corinthians 5:20).
We want all to know “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding”
(Philippians 4:7). In love and compassion, we share the knowledge of Christ.”
I think that is well said. The passage from 2 Corinthians tells us something that should set our attitude: we have this TREASURE. That is what it is—a treasure. It is called the unsearchable riches of Christ in Ephesians 3:8. The world does not recognize the value of what we are trying to show them; but we should. God is not trying to take anything away, or hide anything, or keep something good from us or the world. He has unsearchable riches to share, and if we are His, then we can also share His riches. May God grant that we may hold up His invitation to His kingdom and family, where true riches are found, to His lost world.
-John Ostic