A
member of a certain church, who previously had been attending
services regularly, stopped going. After a few weeks, the preacher
decided to visit him.
It was a chilly evening. The preacher found the man at home alone,
sitting before a blazing fire. Guessing the reason for his preachers visit,
the man welcomed him, led him to a comfortable chair near the
fireplace and waited. The preacher 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 preacher took the fire tongs, carefully picked up a brightly
burning ember and placed it to one side of the hearth all 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 preacher 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 warmth of the burning
coals around it.
As the preacher reached the door to leave, his host said with a tear running down his
cheek, '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.
I thought this was pretty special, just like YOU!!!
What is most valuable is not what we have in our lives,
but WHO we have in our lives.
God bless,
Barbara
