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It is important in life that we invest as much time as possible in
bettering ourselves. The more time we spend learning, understanding and
receiving wisdom, the better our life will become. The Bible declares in
Proverbs 4:7 “Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with
all thy getting get understanding.” It is through study and repetition
that we place our life on a solid foundation where we will be well prepared
to face and overcome the challenges that are promised to come our way.
Never think that taking the easy way out will be to your betterment. We
are told many times throughout the scriptures to not be slothful which
means to be lazy or idle. Those who are slothful reap a just reward, but
those who are diligent in life striving to become better live a life of
blessing and abundance. Be encouraged to reevaluate how you are spending
your time. Rededicate yourself to become better in areas that you are
lacking and you will find your life follow in that positive direction.
I hope this message encourages and inspires your heart to see the
importance of wisdom and understanding. It is a life rule that what we
put into ourselves, we will also get out of ourselves.
THE MAGIC PEBBLES
“Why do we have to learn all of this dumb stuff?”
Of all the complaints and questions I have heard from my students during
my years in the classroom, this was the one most frequently uttered. I
would answer it by recounting the following legend.
One night a group of nomads were preparing to retire for the evening when
suddenly they were surrounded by a great light. They knew they were in the
presence of a celestial being. With great anticipation, they awaited a
heavenly message of great importance that they knew must be especially for them.
Finally, the voice spoke, “Gather as many pebbles as you can. Put them in
your saddle bags. Travel a day's journey and tomorrow night will find you
glad and it will find you sad.”
After having departed, the nomads shared their disappointment and anger
with each other. They had expected the revelation of a great universal
truth that would enable them to create wealth, health and purpose for the
world. But instead they were given a menial task that made no sense to
them at all. However, the memory of the brilliance of their visitor caused
each one to pick up a few pebbles and deposit them in their saddle bags
while voicing their displeasure.
They traveled a day's journey and that night while making camp, they
reached into their saddle bags and discovered every pebble they had
gathered had become a diamond. They were glad they had diamonds. They were
sad they had not gathered more pebbles.
It was an experience I had with a student, I shall call Alan, early in my
teaching career that illustrated the truth of that legend to me.
When Alan was in the eighth grade, he majored in “trouble” with a minor in
“suspensions.” He had studied how to be a bully and was getting his
master's in “thievery.”
Every day I had my students memorize a quotation from a great thinker. As
I called roll, I would begin a quotation. To be counted present, the
student would be expected to finish the thought.
“Alice Adams - 'There is no failure except'...” “'In no longer trying.'
I'm present, Mr. Schlatter.”
So, by the end of the year, my young charges would have memorized 150
great thoughts.
“Think you can, think you can't - either way you're right!”
“If you can see the obstacles, you've taken your eyes off the goal.”
“A cynic is someone who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.”
And, of course, Napoleon Hill's “If you can conceive it, and believe it,
you can achieve it.”
No one complained about this daily routine more than Alan - right up to
the day he was expelled and I lost touch with him for five years. Then one
day, he called. He was in a special program at one of the neighboring
colleges and had just finished parole.
He told me that after being sent to juvenile hall and finally being shipped
off to the California Youth Authority for his antics, he had become so
disgusted with himself that he had taken a razor blade and cut his wrists.
He said, “You know what, Mr. Schlatter, as I lay there with my life running
out of my body, I suddenly remembered that dumb quote you made me write 20
times one day. `There is no failure except in no longer trying.' Then it
suddenly made sense to me. As long as I was alive, I wasn't a failure, but
if I allowed myself to die, I would most certainly die a failure. So with
my remaining strength, I called for help and started a new life.”
At the time he had heard the quotation, it was a pebble. When he needed
guidance in a moment of crisis, it had become a diamond. And so it is to
you I say, gather all the pebbles you can, and you can count on a future
filled with diamonds.
By John Schlatter
Read and meditate on these scriptures:
Mark 11:23-24 Jesus declares “For verily I say unto you, That whosoever
shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the
sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things
which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.
Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray,
believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.”
Deuteronomy 4:30-31 “When thou art in tribulation, and all these things
are come upon thee, even in the latter days, if thou turn to the LORD thy
God, and shalt be obedient unto His voice; (For the LORD Thy God is a
merciful God;) He will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget
the covenant of thy fathers which He sware unto them.”
Ephesians 4:29-32 “Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth,
but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace
unto the hearers. And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are
sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and
anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all
malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one
another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.”
1 Peter 5:6-7 “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God,
that He may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon Him; for He
careth for you.”
All of these scriptures can be found in the King James Version Bible.
Today's Selected Poem: HEALED AND WHOLE
Click here to read --- http://www.Godswork.org/enpoem71.htm
Today's Selected Testimony: THE SPARROW
Click here to read --- http://www.Godswork.org/testimony56.htm
In Christ’s Service,
Dwayne Savaya
God’s Work Ministry |
