each finger o f both gloves. You can imagine his chagrin and rejoicin g : a hundred dollars received unexpectedly! A lthough he had been given the g ift earlier, he had not actually possessed it. In a sense, many Of us have had this same experience spiritually. In giving us H is only begotten Son, God wants freely to give us all things. “Whereby are given unto us exceed ing g rea t and precious prom ises: that by these ye m ight be pa/rtakers o f divine nature, having esca/ped the cor ruption that is in the world through lust, fo r i f these things be in you, and abound, they m ake you that ye shall n either be barren nor unfru itfu l in the knowledge o f our L ord Jesu s Christ.” * If we pray in the time of victory we won't need to plead in the time of defeat. * * * MONUMENT TO AN INSECT In the center o f the main street in the thriving community o f Enterprise, A labam a stands a most unusual monu ment. What m akes it so different is that the m emorial was built, and hand somely carved, to commemorate an in sect. Rather than the likeness o f a man, it’s a representation o f a boll weavil. F rom early plantation days, all the fa rm ers o f the community had struggled to raise cotton. This was their main crop, and when it failed , they w ere virtually r u in e d . Their nemesis was this little destructive crea ture which does its damage so com pletely that the devastation nearly w iped out the farm ers. Then the out standing Negro scientist, Dr. George Washington Carver, along with others, began r e s e a r c h in desperation. Of course, you know the story how that peanuts w ere found to be the answer. B efo re long, peanut oil mills replaced cotton gins. The a rea has since become known as “the peanut center o f the world.” To the delight o f farm ers, profits from peanuts fa r exceeded those from the cotton. That which had seemed to be a blighting curse turned out to be a blessing o f untold dimen sions. This is why the monument was built to rem em ber the boll weavil. Doubtless, some o f us as Christians are trying to grow cotton where God would * *
sa fe fo r a sheep to g et close to such rampaging currents. In these times the shepherd takes carefu l precautions in order to w ater the animals. H e keeps them back until he’s been able to dig a trench leading off from the main stream. When the w ater has collected in this special side pool, he lets it set tle. It becomes crystal-clear and then allows the sheep to quench their thirst. So, by these still waters, they find their n ecessary refreshm en t without the dan g er o f losing their lives. No wonder the sheep love the shepherd when, through his tender care and provision, they have their every need so ad e quately met. What a beau tiful illustra tion this is o f God’8 provision fo r us! H e’s not going to allow us to go hun gry or to fam ish with thirst. Listen again to that fam iliar prom ise, “He leadeth me beside the still waters.” the foolish heart of man, the wicked heart of man foolishly wants to change the Bible. * * * UNEXPECTED BLESSINGS As a p art o f his ministry, a pastor was asked to perform a wedding cere mony fo r the children Of two very wealthy fam ilies in his church. L ike most preachers, his income was small. Any possible ex tra gratu ities he and his w ife planned to put away fo r their children’8 Christmas p r e s e n t s . You should have seen n ew spaper accounts o f the expensive and lavish affair. It was the social event o f the season. Those participating in the service were all given very extravagan t gifts. The preacher, however, only received a pair o f kid gloves. While they w ere very handsome, yet they seem ed quite out o f line with the generous fa v ors bestowed on the others. Ministers learn to take such things in stride, so he simply committed the m atter to the Lord. The gloves were put away in a dresser drawer, awaiting a colder day fo r use. A month or so later, freezing w eather set in, and the p reach er rem embered his new gloves. When he put them on he noticed that something was stuck in each finger tip. He turned them in side out and w as naturally amazed to find a ten-dollar bill carefu lly fold ed in * * * Instead ofthe Bible'schanging
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