| “Heaviness in the heart of man maketh it stoop: but a good word maketh it glad” (Proverbs 12:25). |
| It makes us feel sad when we see someone who walks along stooped over, not because he is old and has arthritis, but because he is feeling bad about something. Perhaps you have seen people like this walking along the sidewalk or sitting on a bench. This morning when I was running some errands, I saw a man like this, leaning over the hood of a car. He looked old, but not unhealthy. However, the look on his face and the slump of his body indicated that he was probably sad about something, and maybe about several things. |
| Back in the 1950s, in the city where I grew up, there was a large company that produced railway cars. A man whose name was Mike had worked for them for many years. He was Italian by birth, and was a good worker; everyone knew him and liked him, even the president of the company. One day the president walked through the shop and noticed Mike looking like the man in our verse — heaviness in his heart was making him stoop. When the president asked him what was wrong, Mike answered in his broken English, “I lose my wife; I lose my boy; I lose both of them, and now I have big debts.” His wife had died after a long illness, and his son had been killed in an accident. This was before the days of government medicine in Canada, so Mike had big doctors’ bills, and hospital bills. |
| The president said to Mike, “You come to my office tomorrow, and bring all those bills with you; I want to see them.” Mike went to his office with the bills the next day, and the president said to him, “Mike, I cannot give you back your wife and son, but I can help with those bills.” Then he added them up and wrote out a check for the whole amount. This was indeed a “good word” that made Mike’s heart glad. He still missed his wife and son, but he did not have to worry about paying all those bills. |
| Sometimes there are things in our lives that make us stoop, even when we are young. Perhaps someone bullies us, or says something unkind about us. Or maybe we flunk a test, and feel bad about it. Perhaps one of our friends treats us badly. We do not need money, but a “good word” can come from the Lord, from reading His Word. The Bible can give us comfort in every kind of problem. However, a good Christian friend can also give us a kind word that encourages us. Let us also be ready to give a kind word to someone who is feeling a bit “down.” If we look around us, there will be many opportunities to do this. |
