DISTANT RELATIVES
A certain old recluse lived deep in the mountains of
When he died, certain relatives came from the city to collect his valuables.
Upon arriving, all they saw was an old shack with an outhouse beside it.
Inside the shack, next to the rock fireplace was an old cooking pot and his
mining equipment.
A cracked table with a three-legged chair stood guard by a tiny window, and a
kerosene lamp served as the centerpiece for the table.
In a dark corner of the little room was a dilapidated cot with a threadbare
bedroll on it.
They picked up some of the old relics and started to leave.
As they were driving away, an old friend of the recluse, on his mule, flagged
them down.
"Do you mind if I help myself to what's left in my friend's cabin?" He
asked.
"Go right ahead," they replied. After all, they thought, what inside
that shack could be worth anything?
The old friend entered the shack and walked directly over to the table.
He reached under it and lifted one of the floorboards.
He then proceeded to take out all the gold his friend had discovered over the
past 53 years enough to have built a palace.
The recluse died with only his friend knowing his true worth.
As the friend looked out of the little window and watched the cloud of dust
behind the relative's car disappear, he said,
"They shoulda got to know him better."
By Carl Muir
Just as the man in this story would have loved to share his wealth with his
relatives if only they had gotten to know him better,
I believe God wants to share the wealth that He possesses with everyone who will
invest their time in getting to know God the way that He knows us.
Many people have the wrong mentality and think,
"Who am I to think I can get close to God."
That is the wrong mentality because the Apostle Paul addresses the virtue in
pursuing to know God as he writes in Philippians 3:10 which declares, "That
I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His
sufferings, being made conformable unto His death."
Never think that God is unreachable for the Bible declares in Jeremiah 29:12-14
"You will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.
And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.
And I will be found by you, says the Lord..."
We can know the Lord intimately and be in tune with what His will is for our
life, but it will take an investment of prayer, fasting, reading God's Word and
the discipline to live a holy life before the Lord.
The result will consist of treasures untold for living the life that God
commands us to live.
Never allow the enemy to make you think it is not profitable to get close to the
Lord.
With Jesus, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain.
In Him there is fullness of Joy and peace that surpasses all understanding.
Whoever comes to Jesus Christ finds the peace, freedom, blessings, and Love that
is from everlasting to everlasting. (John 8:36) (Psalm 103:17)
Read and meditate on these scriptures:
Isaiah 26:3-4
"Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace,
whose mind is stayed on Thee: because he trusteth in Thee.
Trust ye in the Lord for ever: for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting
strength."
Matthew 11:28-30
Jesus says,
"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you
rest.
Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me;
for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light."
Psalm 16:8-11
"I have set the Lord always before me: because
He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.
Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in
hope.
For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One
to see corruption.
Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at
Thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore."
1 Corinthians 2:9-11
".As it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear
heard,
neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath
prepared for them that love Him.
But God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit: for
the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God."
All scriptures can be found in the King James Version.
In Christ Service,