A WORD FOR TODAY, December 9, 2025
Peggy Hoppes
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Blessings. Peg
A WORD FOR TODAY, December 9, 2025
“So let a man think of us as Christ’s servants, and stewards of God’s mysteries. Here, moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful. But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you, or by man’s judgment. Yes, I don’t judge my own self. For I know nothing against myself. Yet I am not justified by this, but he who judges me is the Lord. Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and reveal the counsels of the hearts. Then each man will get his praise from God.” 1 Corinthians 4:1-5, WEB
For today’s devotion, I am going to share an old, familiar story.
“On a beautiful spring day, the animals gathered together to enjoy some fellowship. Skylark was singing, Squirrel was nibbling on some seeds, and the fawns were romping together. Tortoise slowly arrived and greeted the group with a cheery, ‘Hello.’ It was a peaceful time until another friend arrived. Bursting out of the bushes flew Hare who was filled with energy and enthusiasm. He hopped circles around Tortoise, bouncing here and there and everywhere. The rest of the animals were tired just watching him.
“‘What are we going to do today?’ asked Hare. The other animals did not have any ideas that satisfied the active Hare. ‘Let’s have a race!’ he said. Squirrel answered, ‘A race? We do not like to race against you. You are too fast and no one else gets to win.’ Hare hounded the animals until they began to get angry. Finally, Tortoise said, ‘I will race you.’ The whole group got very quiet, then suddenly Hare burst out in laughter. ‘You? You want to race me?’ asked Hare. Tortoise said, ‘Sure, it’s all about having fun anyway, isn’t it?’ Hare said, ‘Of course.’ He was still giggling as he sauntered to the starting line. ‘Well, this will be an easy race to win!’ The animals lined up at the starting line, Hare impatient as Tortoise slowly approached. Wise Old Owl laid out the path of the race and explained the rules.
“‘On your mark, get set, GO!’ hooted Owl. The animals took off. Hare was far down the path as Tortoise barely got off the starting mark. Hare ran back and taunted Tortoise. ‘Are you coming or not? Is that as fast as you can go? You can never win at that pace!’ Tortoise continued on his way. Hare stopped and nibbled on some clover while Tortoise continued on his way. Hare stopped at the pond for a cool drink of water while Tortoise continued on his way. Hare even got behind Tortoise and pushed him further along the path. ‘Just thought I’d give you a bit of help, since you need it.’
“‘I might as well take a nap since Tortoise will take all day to run this race.’ So, Hare found a shady spot along the path and fell asleep. Hare did not realize that while he was running back and forth, eating and drinking, that Tortoise continued to get closer to the finish line. Hare woke to the sound of cheers and applause. He shook his head, rubbed his eyes, and looked in the direction of the noise. There, Tortoise was just walking over the finish line.
“Hare ran to the finish and said, ‘Hey, it’s not fair. He must have cheated. Tortoise could never beat me!’ Wise Old Owl said to Hare, ‘Slow and steady wins the race. Tortoise did not let anything distract him from the task at hand. He proved himself faithful. Not even your taunts about failure would stop him. You could have easily completed the race and then did everything you wanted to do. Instead, you let your arrogance get the better of you.’”
We know the moral of the story, but what does this mean for us as people of faith? As Christians, we run a race against the world. Satan taunts us with accusations of imperfection, pushes us along the way, and attacks when he does not get his way. Yet, we must prove faithful through it all, continuing along the path until we reach the finish line. We should be like the tortoise, with constancy, integrity, and hope. In the end we will know and understand all that we faced, and we will enjoy God’s glory.
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