FOODFORTHOUGHT

THE BIBLE & THE COAL BASKET
Author Unknown
December 5, 2010

The story is told of an old man who lived on a farm in the mountains
of eastern Kentucky with his young grandson. Each morning, Grandpa was
up early sitting 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 way he could. One day the grandson asked, "Papa, I try to read the
Bible just like you but I don't understand it, and what I do
understand I forget as
soon as I close the book. What good does reading the Bible do?" The
Grandfather quietly turned from putting coal in the stove and said,
"Take this coal basket down to the river and bring back a basket of
water." The boy did as he was told, even though all the water leaked
out before he could get back to the house.

The grandfather laughed and said, "You will have to move a little
faster next 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 he
returned home. Out of breath, he told his grandfather that it was
"impossible to carry water in a basket," and he went to get a bucket
instead. The old man said, "I don't want a bucket of water; I want a
basket of water. You can do this. You're just not trying hard enough,"
and he went out the door to watch the boy try again. At this point,
the boy knew it was impossible, but he wanted to show his grandfather
that even if he ran as fast as he could, the water would leak out
before he got far at all. The boy scooped the water and ran hard, but
when he reached his grandfather the basket 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."
The boy looked at the basket and for the first time he realized that
the basket looked 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 or remember everything, but when you read it, it
will change you from the inside out.

That is the work of God in our lives.

To change us from the inside out and to slowly transform us into the
image of His son.

Take time to read a portion of God's word each day.

--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Join our group on Facebook and post your comments on the reflection: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=142903436398

Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/efoodforthought

Webpage: http://www.dailyfoodforthought.org/
Group Address: http://groups.google.com/group/dailyfoodforthought

GROUP CONTACT:
To subscribe from this group, share a reflection or feedback
on the reflection of the day, send email to: foodforthought2@earthlink.net
To unsubscribe : dailyfoodforthought-unsubscribe@googlegroups.com

DISCLAIMER: FoodForThought shared this message as submitted and do not
claim to own any copyright privileges on it. All the messages are
believed to be free for circulation or public domain. All messages come
in either by email in original form or copied from the internet sites.
The work was submitted to us as an item for distribution, and it was
posted solely on the basis of its quality.

© 2010 FoodForThought