THE BIBLE & THE COAL BASKETThe story is told of an old man who lived on a farm in the mountains ofeastern Kentucky with his young grandson. Each morning, Grandpa was up earlysitting at the kitchen table reading from his old worn-out Bible.His grandson who wanted to be just like him tried to imitate him in any wayhe could. One day the grandson asked, "Papa, I try to read the Bible justlike you but I don't understand it, and what I do understand I forget assoon as I close the book. What good does reading the Bible do?" TheGrandfather quietly turned from putting coal in the stove and said, "Takethis coal basket down to the river and bring back a basket of water." Theboy did as he was told, even though all the water leaked out before he couldget back to the house.The
grandfather laughed and said, "You will have to move a little fasternext time," and sent him back to the river with the basket to try again.This time the boy ran faster, but again the basket was empty before hereturned home. Out of breath, he told his grandfather that it was"impossible to
carry water in a basket," and he went to get a bucketinstead. The old man said, "I don't want a bucket of water; I want a basketof water. You can do this. You're just not trying hard enough," and he wentout the door to watch the boy try again. At this point, the boy knew it wasimpossible, but he wanted to show his grandfather that even if he ran asfast as he could, the water would leak out before he got far at all. The boyscooped the water and ran hard, but when he reached his grandfather thebasket was again empty.Out of breath, he said, "See Papa, it's useless!""So you think it is useless?" The old man said, "Look at the basket." Theboy looked at the basket and for the first time he realized that the basketlooked different. Instead of a dirty old coal basket, it was clean. "Son,that's what happens when you read the Bible. You might not understand orremember everything, but when you read it, it will change you from theinside out.That is the work of God in our lives.To change us from the inside out and to slowly transform us into the imageof His son.Take time to read a portion of God's word each day.-- Author Unknown<>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< Visit our website at: http://www.emailministry.org/
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