Jewels #30 (April 14, 2009)
My Jewels # 30
"They shall be Mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in the day I make up MY JEWELS."
(Malachi 3:17)
To my dear children,
There once was a little boy who had a bad temper. His Father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper, he must hammer a nail into the back of the fence.
The first day the boy had driven 37 nails into the fence. Over the next few weeks, as he learned to control his anger, the number of nails hammered daily gradually dwindled down. He discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the fence. Finally the day came when the boy didn't lose his temper at all.
He told his father about it and the father suggested that the boy now pull out one nail for each day that he was able to hold his temper.
The days passed and the young boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nails were gone.
The father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence. He said, 'You have done well, my son, but look at the holes in the fence. The fence will never be the same. When you say things in anger, they leave a scar just like this one. You can put a knife in a man and draw it out. But It won't matter how many times you say I'm sorry, the wound will still be there. A verbal wound is as bad as a physical one. Remember that true friends are very rare jewels, indeed.
How well this story underscores the Biblical account. Each sin we commit is like that nail in the fence and with the passage of time the evidence is undeniable. We have neither the desire nor the nature to 'draw out' one sin, let alone a fence full, and so the condemnation has become insurmountable. Then, wonder of wonders, there steps forth One with a perfectly clean fence and says "I can remove All your nails and all their holes besides, if you but confess your sins and put your trust in Me". Hebrews 10:17 [margin] states,
"Then He said, And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more".
"Then the same day at evening...came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. And when He had so said, He showed unto them His hands and His side. Then were the disciples glad." [Jn.20:19-20].
