University Of Life

A few cookie crumbs lay at the bottom of the cookie jar. A young boy has noticed and reached in to get them. When his hand closes around the crumbs however, his hand gets stuck and he cannot withdraw. About this time, his mother walks into the kitchen with an oven mitt on her hand. She opens the oven and pulls out a cookie sheet with fresh, warm, melty chocolate chip cookies.

"Son, if you let go of those crumbs, you may have a brand new, warm, ooey-gooey cookie."

What do you think was the boy's choice? He will not know the goodness of what is in store until he releases his hold on what he already has.

Live with open hands, my son. Be willing to let go of any treasured thing when God says "let go." If you hold on to what you *think* you want, you may miss out on what God says in best.

A father had two sons, a younger son and an older son. The younger son was a small boy. The older son was on the threshold of adulthood and selfish as can be. All he cared about was himself; he had no thought for God. He had big plans too. He would go to college so he could get a good education. He would find a beautiful girl at college and marry her. Then he would get a great job and begin to acquire wealth. He and his wife (and by this time 2.5 children) would live in a big, beautiful house. He might invent something new and become famous. He had no time to care for the lost, no concern for the eternal well being of anyone around him, no desire to follow after God. He thought if he followed God, he would have to give up everything he'd ever dreamed about, move to Africa, live in a grass hut, marry a plain girl, and live a hard or incredibly boring life.

One day, the father took his sons for a walk in the park. This father saw past his older son's selfishness, grieved at the way he ignored God and feared that listening would bring sadness or difficulty. He began to confront his son about this wrong thinking, but the older son became defensive and refused to listen.

The father pulled out a nickel and dime out of his pocket. He knelt down and showed the two coins to his younger son.

"Son, you may have one of these two coins. Which do you want?"

The younger son had not yet learned about the value of the coins and so picked the bigger coin. As he ran off, the father sat down on a bench with a wise look in his eye.

"What was that all about?" asked the older son.

"Bigger is better in the eyes of immaturity. Your brother thought he knew which was best. He didn't know that if he asked me, I would tell him which coin could buy him two pieces of candy instead of one. All he needed to do was ask his father. His father wants him to be happy and live a joyfilled life; but he will not force himself on his son. Love comes of it's own accord."

The older son looked perplexed, as if he didn't understand.

"Let me put it this way," said the father. "What if I had in one hand a bar of gold worth $15,000. You see how shiny it is, how much it is worth, and you think that is what you want. In my other I hold something very small. So small in fact, that you cannot even see what it is when I fold my fingers around it. I tell you, 'Son, you may have the contents of one hand. This hand holds a gold bar, and *this* hand holds something of much greater value. You just need to trust me and commit to choosing *this* hand and it will be yours. Until you are willing to give up what you can see--what you think you want--you will never discover the beauty of the perfectly flawless diamond in my other hand. Though it is not as large or perhaps as flashy as the gold bar in my hand, the diamond will bring you greater satisfaction and pleasure. But to gain the diamond, I must first have your trust and commitment."