If Only They Have Read

When the now-famous poet Elizabeth Barrett became the wife of Robert Browning, her parents disowned her because they disapproved of the marriage.

Their daughter Elizabeth, however, wrote almost every week, telling them that she loved them and longed for a reconciliation.

After 10 years, she received a huge box in the mail that contained all the notes she had sent. Not one had been opened!

Although these "love letters" have now become a precious part of classical English literature, it's really sad to think that they were never read by Elizabeth Barrett's own parents.

Had they looked at just one, the broken relationship with their daughter might have been healed.

All of us are alienated from God because of sin, but God has provided a way of reconciliation. In the Bible, He tells about it, and also expresses His earnest desire for fellowship with us.

The question is, are you reading God's letter to you regularly?

Are you meditating His Words daily?

If not, let this message today be of an encouragement to you.

Begin memorizing and meditating God's Word and feel His presence wherever you go. 

Don and Dawn

Over That Hill

There is a a"Peanuts" Cartoon in which little Lucy says to her baby brother, Linus:

"I'll tell you something I've never told anyone before. Do you see that hill over there? Someday I'm going over that hill and find the answer to my dreams. Someday I'm going over that hill and find happiness and fulfillment. For me all the answers to life lie beyond those clouds and over the grassy slopes of those hills." 

Linus removes his thumb from his mouth, points toward the hill and says, "Perhaps there's another little kid on the other side of the hill who is looking this way and thinks that all the answers lie on this side of the hill."

Lucy thinks that one over for a long moment, then turns toward the hill and screams, "Forget it, kid!"

Alexander the Great - His Ambition!

After his world-wide conquests Alexander wept because there were no more worlds to conquer. He died, after a short life of debauchery, at the age of 32. 

`A tub was large enough for Dionysius: a world was too little for Alexander.' 

(1 Tim. 6. 8; Heb. 13. 5)

The Contented Fisherman

Philip Parham tells the story of a rich industrialist who was disturbed to find a fisherman sitting lazily beside his boat. 

"Why aren't you out there fishing?" he asked. 

"Because I've caught enough fish for today," said the fisherman. 

"Why don't you catch more fish than you need?' the rich man asked. 

"What would I do with them?" 

"You could earn more money," came the impatient reply, "and buy a better boat so you could go deeper and catch more fish. You could purchase nylon nets, catch even more fish, and make more money. Soon you'd have a fleet of boats and be rich like me." 

The fisherman asked, "Then what would I do?" 

"You could sit down and enjoy life," said the industrialist. 

"What do you think I'm doing now?" the fisherman replied as he looked placidly out to sea. 

Our Daily Bread, May 18, 1994.

How Many Things Are Absolutely Essential?

In the fifth century, a man named Arenius determined to live a holy life. So he abandoned the conforms of Egyptian society to follow an austere lifestyle in the desert. 

Yet whenever he visited the great city of Alexandria, he spent time wandering through its bazaars. Asked why, he explained that his heart rejoiced at the sight of all the things he didn't need. 

Those of us who live in a society flooded with goods and gadgets need to ponder the example of that desert dweller. A typical supermarket in the United States in 1976 stocked 9,000 articles; today it carries 30,000. How many of them are absolutely essential? How many superfluous?  

Our Daily Bread, May 26, 1994.