A member of a
certain church, who previously had been attending services regularly, stopped
going. After a few weeks, the pastor decided to visit him. It was a chilly
evening. The pastor found the man at home alone, sitting before a blazing fire.
Guessing the reason for his pastor’s visit, the man welcomed him, led him to a
comfortable chair near the fire place and waited.
The pastor made
himself at home but said nothing. In the grave silence, he contemplated the
dance of the flames around the burning logs. After some minutes, the pastor
took the fire tongs, carefully picked the brightly burning ember and placed it
to one side of the hearth alone. Then he sat back in his chair, still silent.
The host watched all this in quiet contemplation.
As the one lone ember’s flame flickered and
diminished, there was a momentary glow and then its fire was no more. Soon it
was cold and dead. Not a word had been spoken since the initial greeting. The
pastor glanced at his watch and realized it was time to leave. He slowly stood
up, picked up the cold dead ember and placed it back in the middle of the fire.
Immediately, it
began to glow once more with the light and the warmth of the burning coals
around it. The pastor reached the door to leave. With tears running down his
cheek, the host said, “thank you so much for your visit and especially for the
fiery sermon. I shall be back in church next Sunday.”
We live in a world
today, which tries to say too much with too little. Consequently, few listen.
Sometimes, the best ‘sermons’ are the ones left unspoken. Her response, “when
things looked darkest, I would have trusted God quicker.” We too!
Quote: The God who created the butterfly, is the same
God who created the locusts
Challenge: Try to be someone’s reason to
smile even when your own smile is lost
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