The days were long and lonely for five-year-old Minnie after her brothers and sister had returned to school. They didn’t get back home until 4:30 in the afternoon, because they had a long ride on the school bus. For about the twenty-fifth time Minnie had asked, “How long till they get home, Mama? You said it wouldn’t be long now, but it has been!”
Her mother sighed and began, “Now when the little hand gets to....”
“Wait, Mamma! I have an idea! I’ll bake a cake and surprise them!”
Her mother was so busy she didn’t stop to think before she surprised herself by saying, “Well, all right, but you’ll have to do it by yourself. I’m much too busy to help you.”
Minnie was dazzled at this dream come true—to cook all by herself! Now, Minnie had never baked a cake before, but she had been a close-at-elbow helper many times when her mother had. First she tied a large apron around her middle and talked softly to herself: “A bowl, an egg and an eggbeater—oh, this has got to be really good!” Happily she beat the egg and was just ready to pour in an unknown quantity of milk when her mother breezed in with a heart-shaped pan. Shiny-eyed, Minnie exclaimed, “That means I must color it red! Oh please, Mamma?”
“Okay, but take it easy there; not too much milk and flour. See, dear, this is a small pan.”
Minnie’s spirits soared as she added “the stuff to make it goof up.” It was so much fun stirring the pretty pink batter. She smiled to herself as she thought of how good she was at making cakes. Soon a beautifully rounded cake with such a nice smell was cooling in the kitchen.
“I didn’t even taste it once,” she beamed sweetly. “It’s all for Tommy, Robbie and Sue.”
Robbie was the first to come home. Minnie cut him a large piece of the pretty pink cake. It was still warm and looked so good. Minnie stood by waiting for the compliments.
“Oh, yuk! It’s like eggy-tasting biscuit with tons of vanilla!” he sputtered.
Sadly, Minnie tasted her cake—no sugar, and Robbie was right—there was way too much vanilla. It really was no good. And she had thought she was so smart by planning such a nice surprise!
Is your life like Minnie’s cake? Is the most important ingredient missing—the sweetness of the love of the Lord Jesus in your heart? Without Him your life can only be a disappointment and a waste. Now, Minnie had tried very hard. Her reasons were very good, but she had no recipe and no directions. In living our lives here we do have a guidebook, the Bible. God wants us to follow it. It is not our way, but His way we are to go. When Jesus said in John 14:66Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. (John 14:6), “I am the way, the truth, and the life,” we had better listen. Although God says of our hearts, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked...” (Jer. 17:99The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? (Jeremiah 17:9)), He also tells us that “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.” 1 John 1:77But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. (1 John 1:7). Our hearts were made to be filled with Him, His sweet love and peace. Did He not bleed and die on the cross to make it possible? Admit to God that what He says about your heart is true, for you know it is deep down inside. Let Him add that sweetness and joy to your life.
Sir Isaac Newton had a friend who, like himself, was a scientist. Newton was a Christian and loved the Lord Jesus Christ. His friend was not a Christian. He didn’t even believe that there was a God! Newton had spoken to his friend many times about how God had created such a wonderful universe. Each time, though, his friend would shake his head saying “no", and reply that the universe “just happened.”
Newton had finished the design of a scale model of our solar system. A very skilled craftsman then built it from Newton’s plans. In the center was a large ball made of brass, which represented the sun. Revolving around this sun were smaller balls attached to spokes of different lengths. These balls represented the planets, and the spokes placed them at the proper distances from the sun. All of these balls, representing Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, were in their proper order. (Today we know that the planet Pluto is also in our solar system, but Neon did not know this.) These balls were all geared together so that when a crank on the front was turned, they all moved in their orbits around the sun.
One day Newton was in his study reading when his friend came to visit him. His friend saw the model and instantly recognized what it was. As he slowly cranked the model, he studied it closely. He said to Newton, “This is tremendous! Who made it?”
“Nobody,” Newton answered without looking up from his book.
His friend turned to him with a confused look and said, “You must not have heard me. I asked, ‘Who made this wonderful model?’”
Looking up, Newton said with a perfectly straight face, “Nobody made it. Those balls and gears just appeared and put themselves tether!”
His friend, now quite upset, said, “You must think I’m a fool! Of course somebody made this! He’s a genius, and I’d like to meet him!”
Newton set his book aside and slowly walked across the room to his friend. As they stood in front of the model, Newton explained to his friend; “This model is just a poor imitation of our wonderful universe. You know the laws and the precise order which governs our universe. I can’t seem to convince you that this model, this toy, does not have a designer or a maker. However, you have said many times that the solar system, which this model represents, ‘just happened.’ Now tell me, is that the logical conclusion of a scientist?”
Newton’s friend quickly understood how foolish he had been. He realized that there had to be a Master Designer and a Master Creator for everything! It wasn’t long after accepting the thought that God was the Creator, that he also accepted Him as his Saviour.
Have you accepted Him as your Saviour?
ML-05/10/1981