Priceless Gain

Neil Clark Warren is the author of a book called God Said It, Don't Sweat It.  I have enjoyed reading his brief essays on life and the scriptures, and have zeroed in on one in particular I want to tell you about. He begins by giving a group of five events that we can be involved in for a day, then asks which one we would pick.  You might be thinking of your favorite as you read the list. 

1. You can sit at home and watch your favorite baseball team play against their number one rival, and the game will determine which team goes to the World Series. 

2.  You can work at your job, and you will be paid triple-time. You stand to make an enormous amount of money in one day. 

3.  You can take a long walk in a beautiful park with the love of your life and talk about things that evoke romantic thoughts within you. 

4. You can read a great book and be whisked off to a life in distant times in a faraway land, and the story will fill you with excitement and adventure. 

5.  You can travel to a nearby town and walk with a crowd of people who are listening to a man tell stories. The man's name is Jesus. He is a carpenter from a local community, and He has an incredible way of zeroing in on the great questions of life. 

There's your list. Be truthful and honest, which one would you pick for your day? Number one looks appealing to me.  I'm a Texas Ranger fan and they are doing well this year and stand a chance to go all the way to the World Series.   I am tempted to pick that one.  Number 2 is also a good choice. If I could work for triple pay, that extra money would sure come in handy. 

You get the picture.  All of these are descriptions of an appealing day. Coming from different backgrounds and life situations, we could probably lean toward any of those descriptions and call it a good day. Because of our being on this page and reading the devotional blog, you already know I am going to suggest Number 5 is the most appealing.  No doubt some will argue that Number 5 might be the best for us, but we still do not want to miss that baseball game, or making all that money, or even being with the one we love. 

In the book, Mr. Warren picked Number 5 and gave his reason in these words "My excitement is centered on trying to get to know the carpenter from Nazareth. I want to get to know Him as well as I can, spend as much time with Him as possible, listen to every word He says, watch Him under every condition, and try my best to make my own life like His."

I'm glad we have baseball in our world; and books, and jobs, and a special someone. All of those are important. But I am more excited about having Jesus in my heart, to know him, experience him, share him, and anxiously await his return. The Bible calls that our "priceless gain."

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