A man was exploring
caves by the Seashore. In one of the caves he found a canvas bag with a
bunch of hardened clay balls. It was like someone had rolled clay balls
and left them out in the sun to bake. They didn't look like much, but they
intrigued the man, so he took the bag out of the cave with him. As he
strolled along the beach, he would throw the clay balls one at a time out into
the ocean as far as he could.
Then it struck him. He
had been on the beach a long time. He had thrown may be 50 or 60 of the clay
balls with their hidden treasure into the ocean waves. Instead of
thousands of dollars in treasure, he could have taken home tens of thousands,
but he had just thrown it away!
He thought little
about it, until he dropped one of the clay balls and it cracked open on a rock.
Inside was a beautiful precious stone!
Excited, the man
started breaking open the remaining clay balls. Each contained a similar
treasure. He found thousands of dollars worth of jewels in the 20 or so
clay balls he had left.
Then it struck him. He
had been on the beach a long time. He had thrown may be 50 or 60 of the clay
balls with their hidden treasure into the ocean waves. Instead of
thousands of dollars in treasure, he could have taken home tens of thousands,
but he had just thrown it away!
It's like that with
people. We look at someone, may be even ourselves and we see the external
clay vessel. It doesn't look like much from the outside... It isn't
always beautiful or sparkling, so we discount it.
We see that person
as less important than someone more beautiful or stylish or well known or
wealthy. But we have not taken the time to find the treasure hidden inside
that person.
There is a treasure
in each and every one of us. If we take the time to get to know that person and
if we ask God to show us that person the way He sees them, then the clay begins
to peel away and the brilliant gem begins to shine forth.
May we not come to
the end of our lives and find out that we have thrown away a fortune in
friendships because the gems were hidden in bits of clay. May we see the people
in our world as God sees them.
I am so blessed by the gems of friendship I have with you. Thank you for looking beyond my
clay vessel.
I am so blessed by the gems of friendship I have with you. Thank you for looking beyond my
clay vessel.
---
Appreciate every
single thing
you have, especially your friends! Life is too short and friends are too few!
Do not ask GOD to
Guide your Footsteps if you are not willing to MOVE your Feet
“IN GOD WE TRUST"