Tiny Devotional for Tuesday, 10/13/2020

 A great good morning to you, friends and neighbors out there in Internet Land! And, for those family members who found this post: we have left-over Pad Thai, and I got the GOOD kind of cocoa to make mocha coffee.

The ransom of a man’s life is his wealth,
But the poor hears no rebuke. 
Proverbs 13:8, NASB

I had the great fortune to apprentice under Mrs. Pat K, at Otwell Middle School. She was a classroom teacher for years before becoming a school counselor (that was a requirement, until the late 1980s). She was hard-working; popular with colleagues; phenomenal with students and parents;  she always encouraged me to learn new things. 

Unfortunately, she and her husband were rather well off. 

Unfortunate, because one day, while she was at work, someone broke into her house. The thief stole a lot of their valuables, including ALL her jewelry, other than what she was wearing that day. It was a great financial loss.

I felt compassion for my mentor, and anger that someone had harmed such a great person...but I also felt a sense of relief, because...

NOBODY would consider breaking into my house!  I didn’t have anything a thief would want to steal. 

On the surface, that’s all this verse means: if you are rich, then the bad guys can steal it from you; but nobody steals from the poor.

But there is more: Mrs. K wasn’t devastated, despite her loss. You see, she had the right attitude: she owned the jewelry; the jewelry didn’t own her.

The deeper message of this verse is not: Be POOR; because it’s safer. The message is: True wealth is in things of the Spirit.

Two Kinds of Treasure

Peace be on your household.




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