Yesterday I wrote about the tasteless Thanksgiving meal I had to eat...
Yet, it is through these bland prison meals that the Lord is teaching me to be thankful.
This reminds me of a story I heard about a man who always complained because he was very poor, and he could not afford to buy a pair of shoes. He had to go barefoot wherever he went, and it made him bitter and resentful to see others walking with shoes on their feet while he had none.
But one day, however, while he was traveling along a dusty road, he spotted a young man sitting on the curb begging passersby for coins. Then, as he got closer, he noticed the man had no feet. And at this moment, as he gazed at the pitiful person squatting on the ground, it dawned on him that he was not as bad off as he thought. He found someone worse off than himself.
And this has gradually become my outlook, too. I could be bitter at having spent almost three decades behind bars. But Christ continually reminds me to be thankful and to always count my blessings. Having Jesus as my Lord and being content with what I have is of incomparable worth. This is true joy.
D.B.
This reminds me of a story I heard about a man who always complained because he was very poor, and he could not afford to buy a pair of shoes. He had to go barefoot wherever he went, and it made him bitter and resentful to see others walking with shoes on their feet while he had none.
But one day, however, while he was traveling along a dusty road, he spotted a young man sitting on the curb begging passersby for coins. Then, as he got closer, he noticed the man had no feet. And at this moment, as he gazed at the pitiful person squatting on the ground, it dawned on him that he was not as bad off as he thought. He found someone worse off than himself.
And this has gradually become my outlook, too. I could be bitter at having spent almost three decades behind bars. But Christ continually reminds me to be thankful and to always count my blessings. Having Jesus as my Lord and being content with what I have is of incomparable worth. This is true joy.
D.B.
