[Faith-talk] Daily Thought for Monday, January 6, 2014

[Paul]

Hello and good day to you all.  I hope that you are all doing well.  It goes without saying that, for those of us who are or will be caught in extremely bitterly cold weather this evening, that you will be staying indoors, and that your source of heat won't go out.  I can remember back in 1993 when our oil furnace did that, and my but was it cold! It was then that we decided to switch to natural gas.  This gave us two advantages:  No leaks anywhere, and no timed deliveries for the heat source, unlike oil heat.  So here I am enjoying the benefits of natural gas heat.

The article I have for you today has no author's name appended to it, but it is from a compilation entitled "Stories For A Faithful Heart," with the story under consideration entitled "The One The Father Loves the Most," rendered as follows:

A professor of mine once told me the following story:  "I'm one of 13 children.  One day when I was playing in the street of our hometown, I got thirsty and came into the house for a glass of water.  My father had just come home from work to have lunch.  He was sitting at the kitchen table with a neighbor.  A door separated the kitchen from the pantry, and my father didn't know I was there.  The neighbor said to my father, Joe, there's something I've wanted to ask you for a long time.  You have 13 children.  Out of all of them, is there one that is your favorite, one you love more than all the others?"

"I had my ear pressed against the door, hoping against hope it would be me.  That's easy, my father said.  That's Mary, the 12-year-old.  She just got braces on her teeth and feels so awkward and embarrassed that she won't go out of the house anymore.  Oh, but you asked about my favorite.  That's my 23-year-old Peter.  His fiancee broke their engagement, and he is desolate.  But the one I really love the most is little Michael.  He's totally uncoordinated and terrible in any sport he tries to play.  But, of course, the apple of my eye is Susan.  Only 24, living in her own apartment and developing a drinking problem.  I cry for Susan.  But I guess of all the kids .... and my father went on, mentioning each of his 13 children by name."

The professor ended his story by saying:  "What I learned was that the one my father loves most was the one who needed him most of the time.  And that's the way the Father of Jesus is:  He loves those most who need Him most, who rely on Him, depend upon Him, and trust Him in everything.  Little He cares whether you've been as poor as St. John or as sinful as Mary Magdalene.  All that matters is trust.  It seems to me that learning how to trust God defines the meaning of Christian living.  God doesn't wait until we have our moral life in order before He starts loving us."

And there you have your Daily Thought article for today, which I hope was a blessing to you.  Tomorrow I'll give you the answer to Sunday's poem if you haven't guessed it by then.

And now may the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob just keep us safe, individually and collectively, in these last days in which we live.  Lord willing tomorrow will present another daily thought article for your consideration.  Your Christian friend and brother, Paul