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We should never take for granted the time that God has given us with one
another. The wonderful memories that are created by our interaction with
one another will be remembered far longer than we can ever think or
imagine. We must take the initiative to enjoy every moment that we are
lucky to have with those whom we love and not squander those opportunities
by not realizing how special they are. (James 4:11-14) (Romans 12:10)
Be encouraged to take the time to tell those closest to you how you feel
about them. Verbalize what you feel in your heart and make known your
love. Love intended is not the same as love shown. Do something you
haven't done before to show your love so that in the future, those loved
ones can look back and think of what you did for them and smile.
I hope this message ministers to your heart to not wait until it is too
late to show your love, but rather start this day to share and make known
how greatly loved those closest to you truly are.
UNTIL THE END OF TIME
Off in the distance the old record player is stacked with the sounds of the
very best of days gone by. One by one the lp's drop, skid into place, and
the sounds of Christmas fill the room.
Perry Como, Frank Sinatra, Mel Torme and Ella Fitzgerald take turns
serenading the old man as he opens the box marked “Christmas.”
“It's not the same, but it is the best it can be considering.”
“Considering what?” I ask.
“Considering the fact that my love is not with me,” he says quietly.
“Have yourself a merry little Christmas” he sings above the scratchy sounds
of Perry Como.
If records are well before your time you would not appreciate this. But
there are many who believe the purest sounds come from a 33 1/3 lp even
with the scratches. You learn to tune them out.
He pulls the box a little closer, then resting his hands on it for a
moment, almost like the laying on of hands at a prayer meeting; he pauses,
then unties the string.
It appears that the string he used, like his dreams, is old, a little
frayed and unraveled, but still serving a greater purpose.
Lifting the lid, he stops once more and gazes into the box.
“Ah, Christmas!” he says.
Like a surgeon, he places his hands gently, slowly into the box before him
and carefully removes the contents placing it on the table.
Whatever this treasure may be, it is wrapped in plain brown paper.
Moving it side to side, he pulls and tugs until it is revealed.
“This, this is Christmas,” he says.
Then lifting it up slightly above his head he looks underneath as if
searching for something.
It is a classic old mantel clock.
“Oh, my friend that is beautiful!” I said. “Mahogany wood?”
He doesn't answer me.
He sat there lost in a place and time perhaps when you and I did not even
exist. He held the clock, no embraced it like he was holding the most
precious thing on earth.
“Oh, I'm sorry. I love this clock. It means the world to me,” he said.
“I can tell,” I reply. He smiles and glances back at me.
“This is Christmas,” he whispers.
“May I ask why? Why do you see it as Christmas?”
He then went on to explain.
His wife had been very ill for some time. In the spring of that year she
could no longer walk. By fall, her interest in things around her dimmed.
Then with the approach of Christmas she seemed to rise above it all. Her
husband thought that this was a sure sign that she would recover.
Just before Christmas she told him to go to the local store. He was to ask
for the “Christmas Box” with her name on it. She made him promise not to
open it nor ask what was inside.
He did and as requested he returned with the box in hand.
“Place it under the bed,” she asked of him.
It was on that Christmas Eve that she presented him with the box. Now
weakened from the cold dampness and the return of her symptoms, she could
hardly make it through the night.
“Open it,” she told him.
He untied the string, unwrapped the contents and read the small card inside.
“This is a symbol of my love for you...forever until the end of time.”
She reached under the clock and removed a small key. Opening the front
glass covering the face of the clock, she took the key and began to wind
it. With all her strength she could only manage to turn the key a few times.
She carefully closed the door and laid her head on his shoulder.
“We fell asleep that way,” he said to me.
The next morning, Christmas day, she was gone.
“With all her strength she could not manage to wind the clock completely.
It stopped just minutes short of midnight on Christmas day,” he said.
Then turning toward where I was standing he said, “She loved me until the
end of time, her time. I have never wound that clock again. It holds
Christmas, our last Christmas inside.”
We sat together until the last record dropped.
How appropriate it was.
“I'm dreamin' tonight of a place I love, Even more then I usually do and
although I know it's a long road back I promise you. I'll be home for
Christmas...”
May the most valuable gift you receive this Christmas be found not in a
box, but in the hearts of those you love... “until the end of time.”
By Bob Perks
Read and meditate on these scriptures:
John 13:34-35 Jesus declares “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye
love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By
this shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if ye have love one to another.”
1 John 3:16-18 “Hereby perceive we the love of God, because He laid down
His life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But
whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth
up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?
My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed
and in truth.”
Psalm 34:17-19 “The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth
them out of all their troubles. The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a
broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit. Many are the
afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all.”
Galatians 5:13-16 “For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only
use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one
another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou
shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. But if ye bite and devour one
another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another. This I say
then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.”
All of these scriptures can be found in the King James Version Bible.
Today’s Selected Poem: 25 SECRETS OF ENDLESS LOVE
Click here to read --- http://www.Godswork.org/enpoem176.htm
Today’s Selected Testimony: AN EASTER MIRACLE
Click here to read --- http://www.Godswork.org/testimony172.htm
In Christ’s Service,
Dwayne Savaya
God’s Work Ministry |
