2018 Weekly Devotional - Week 33

Week 33

    Darla and I have four wonderful children. Each of them knows the Lord and is actively serving in their respective churches. Like many parents, over the years our children have taught us many things and on occasion those lessons have been profound. When our boys were very young they had accompanied me on a dove hunt. Our youngest son Samuel was too young at the time to hunt but there was no way in the world I was going to keep him from going. Samuel was fascinated (still is!) with all things hunting and fishing. He took to both like a duck to water. Anyone who has done much dove hunting knows that often there is a whole lot more missing than hitting. Dove are small birds, fly very fast, and have an uncanny ability to dart and dodge at inopportune moments when shooting at them. Well my shooting was normal that day which means abysmal. I noticed that Samuel was picking up all my spent shotgun shells and stuffing them into his camo pants. When we were home cleaning the birds he asked if he could keep those spent shotgun shells and I told him that would be fine. Months went by and I heard no more about the shells. My recollection is that I had delivered a message in church about missions and giving. Sometime later that week Samuel came into my office at church carrying all those spent shells in a plastic sack. He put them on my desk and asked if we could sell them and give the money to missions. I just about lost it in that moment. Those spent shells were my little boy’s treasure. They had extrinsic value but no intrinsic value. In other words, their value was given to them by their owner and not because they were worth anything monetarily in and of themselves. Samuel was bringing his sacrificial gift to present before the Lord. I took those shells in my hands and asked Samuel if I could buy them from him. The transaction was secured and Samuel went back to the house. I sat and cried.
    The Bible tells us that where our treasure is, there will our heart be also. My son’s heart was in the right place that day. He offered up his treasure so that others may know Christ Jesus. How about you? Where is your treasure? What are you willing to give so that others may know of the love of Jesus? Samuel is now a man in his early twenties attending graduate studies. He still loves to hunt and fish but he doesn’t collect his empty shells anymore. But there is a pile of them in a basket to remind a father about true treasure.

In Christ,

John