JT went down the road, shaking his head at the last town. He just didn’t understand why some people thought a common thief was a hero. He wanted to find a place where the people knew right from wrong. He shook the dust of that town off his feet and kept moving.

After a couple of days, he finally walked into town just as dusk was settling over the land. In the distance he saw a very bright glow from a building on the edge of the town he was approaching. As he got closer he could hear the sound of singing voices. The sound was cheery and JT wanted to go find the source of that sound.

As full dark set in, JT finally arrived at the light source. It was a very fine and beautiful church. It had stained glass windows that shone greatly from the light inside. He made his way up and through the open doors into a packed room. There was a little room in the pew nearest to the rear of the church, all other seats were taken.

The man at the podium was finely dressed and spoke eloquently. JT was mesmerized, he wasn’t sure if it was the man or the message, but he was rapt with attention. The speech the man gave went on for quite a while, and JT felt quite inspired by the message of love and hope the man gave to all the people.

JT looked around and noticed the people towards the front of the church were finely dressed and gradually the clothes got worse until it reached the back of the church. Another little boy sat next to him in clothes that could not be considered much more than rags. The look on the little boy’s face was radiant taking in the love and hope the message gave to everyone.

After a while, the man in front said, “Now is the time we give back to God. Please give your best and God will reward you.”

The people in front gave a great show of putting things into the collection plate. You could hear the cling and clang of silver and gold as it hit the collection plate. Everyone seemed to give something as the plates made their way back to the rear of the church.

The little boy beside JT seemed to get more and more anxious as the collection plate got closer and closer. JT watched at the boy closed his eyes and prayed, “Please God, let me know what I can give, I have so little. But, I’d gladly give it all to you.” As the collection plate got closer the little boy finally gave a sigh and seemed to relax as he opened his eyes.

The little boy stood up and slowly walked up to the podium where the finely dressed man stood. The crowd watched closely, some gasping ‘whatever could that little beggar want?’ Others seemed indignant, ‘Why do they let the likes of him in here, he will just ruin everything.’

The collection plate went throughout the church as the little boy continued his walk up to the podium. There the little boy knelt in front of the podium and put his hands together in prayer as he bowed his head.

A hush came over the church as they watched the poorly dressed little boy who knelt and prayed by the podium. The preacher came around the front of the podium and looked at the little boy. He spoke softly, but firmly to the little boy; “What is it that you want little boy? Can’t you see that you are holding up the whole church?”

The little boy raised his and with bright and damp eyes said softly, “I give my service to God forever.”

“Excuse me, what did you say?” the preacher asked with a confused look on his face.

“I give my life in service to the Lord. That is what I choose to give, my best however little it may be,” the little boy earnestly replied.

The whole church fell silent and the murmuring stopped as they saw that the boy gave a gift that was greater than any they had given. The feeling of love overwhelmed the church as the preacher grasped the lad’s hand and glowingly said, “You, my son, have given the greatest gift of all!”

QOTD: When we are asked to give our best to God, do we ever think that what God truly wants is us?

The answer to last weeks’ story: Jesus Trek – Chapter 17 – The Town Hero (Matthew 7:12)

To read the introduction to this series please click HERE