Hope

Don’t Miss the Adventure!

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Just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many that they may be saved. 1 Corinthians 1:10:33 ESV

Do you ever struggle with wondering who to trust in a world in which we are constantly being bombarded by junk mail, telephone solicitors or even neighbors trying to sell us stuff? As I have grown older, I have developed the tendency of being skeptical of almost everyone. But then I remember Melissa. She was the daughter of one of our friends at church. When she was just about thirteen, Melissa caught me one day just as we were leaving church. “So, Mr. Caligiuri, how are you today?” she asked flashing what seemed like a sincere smile. Now I liked all the Newell kids, but I knew that something was up, so I asked her in return, “That depends on how much it’s going to cost me” “Weeeeeell,” she confessed with a sheepish grin. “If you buy a box of candy from this catalogue it will help me to go to youth camp!”

Now, you might think that she was taking advantage of our families’ friendship, but today I am delighted that I bought that candy because she not only made it to youth camp, but she and her husband now serve as missionaries in Japan. They also have a couple of sweet little girls who I bet can sell all the candy they can get their hands on! Too often we miss opportunities to bless others because we build walls to protect ourselves from everyone. But choosing to always play it safe means missing the adventure of opening our hearts in ways that reap eternal rewards, both for us and for people we may never meet on this side of eternity!

The Value of Pennies

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And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny. And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. Mark 12:42-43 ESV

Last year after we finished our Christmas caroling at a nursing home, we began to pass out large print Christmas devotional books as our gift to the residents. Most of them lit up with smiles and thanked us for the books as our volunteers handed them out. But as they got to the back of the room, one lady gently reached out and slipped three one-dollar bills into their hand. Despite urging her that she didn’t need to pay for our gift, the woman insisted, “No please take it! I want to give something!”

In that dear lady I suddenly saw the widow in today’s verse. She showed us that the longing to give is a basic desire of every Christian heart. Though some of us, have had that desire dampened by people who have taken unfair advantage of us, Jesus never mentioned anything about how well the two little coins the widow contributed, were spent. What made her gift precious was the love that she gave it with. None of the rich guys who went ahead of her had impressed Jesus. But the small sacrifice that that woman eagerly gave was a treasure to Him. Her two pennies and our lady’s three dollars remind us that whether we offer gold, frankincense, and myrrh or just two pennies, God sees more than pennies. He is watching our hearts today!

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The Good Old Days!

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“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. John 14:1 ESV

In this day of with change happening around us at the speed of light, many of us long for “Those good old days.” So, as an experiment I thought, “let’s turn back the clock sixty-one years, that should be sufficiently long enough ago to qualify as old.” Sixty-one years ago, I sat in seventh grade math class gazing at some long equations on the blackboard, when our P.A. system came on announcing that classes were dismissed for the day. There seemed to be some secret that the teachers knew but wouldn’t tell us. Nevertheless, as I traipsed home with my usual group of buddies, we were delighted to get out early on a beautiful Friday afternoon. But once inside our home I realized something terrible had happened. My mother was weeping, and I heard the television reporting that President Kennedy had been assassinated Yes, those day were old, but often far from good.

Jesus spoke today’s verse on a day far worse and yet far better than that. Judas had already rushed to the high priest to collect his reward for betraying Jesus. The meal had just finished at which Jesus had told his friends that His body and blood would soon be sacrificed. The disciples, though unaware of all the details knew that something awful was just over the horizon. After finishing the final notes of a hymn they quietly followed Jesus out into the night and headed towards their usual place of prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane. Though nothing looked out of the ordinary, that night, their knees began to knock as they walked, and they jumped at every sound in the darkness. Then Jesus, turned, and said, “Don’t let your hearts be troubled! You believe in God. Believe also in Me!”

Those guys were no different than any of us today. Maybe that night they longed for, “The Good Old Days’” when they simply followed Jesus around Galilee, watching Him perform miracles, preach to crowds and on one occasion even calm the wind and waves of a storm. But with those days just a memory, Jesus assured them of something even better.

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 
John 14:6 ESV

That something better is for us as well as them. We no longer need to cling to the “Good Old Days” or even our own lives because, Jesus said He is our Life. He was all they needed then, and Jesus is all we need today. Jesus is far better and more precious than any “Good Old Days.” He makes the lame walk, the blind see and best of all He will lead us all the way to the Father, if we will only trust in Him!