A friend of mine named Paul received a new car as a Christmas present. On Christmas Eve, as Paul left his office, a boy on the street was admiring the shiny car. “Is this your car, Mister?” he asked.
Paul nodded, “My brother gave it to me for Christmas.” The boy was astounded.
“Your brother gave it to you, and it didn’t cost you nothing? Boy, I wish…”
Paul thought he knew what he was going to say. He was going to wish he had a brother like that. But what the lad said jarred Paul down to his heels.
“I wish that I could be a brother like that.”
Paul looked at him in astonishment. He asked, “Would you like to ride?”
“Oh, yes, I’d love that.”
After a short ride, the boy turned, smiling, and said, “Would you mind driving in front of my house?”
Paul smiled. He thought the lad wanted to show off to his neighbors. But Paul was wrong again.
that they should repent and be baptized for remission of sins (Acts 2:38). James and Jude, Jesus’ half-brothers, each wrote one epistle. James wrote five chapters; Jude wrote one chapter. In neither epistle did either advise anybody to attend the church of his choice. Jude did instruct us to contend earnestly for the faith, once delivered (Jude 1:3).
The New Testament urges us to accept the church of Christ’s choice (Matthew 16:18).
“Will you stop where those steps are?” the boy asked. He ran to the house. In a few minutes, he came back, carrying his little polio-crippled brother. He sat him down on the bottom step, sat beside him, and pointed to the car.
“There she is, Buddy, just like I told you. His brother gave it to him for Christmas, and some day I’m gonna give you one just like it. Then you can see for yourself all the pretty things in the Christmas windows that I’ve been telling you about.”
Paul got out and lifted the lad to the front seat. The older brother climbed in beside him, and the three of them began a memorable holiday ride. That Christmas, Paul learned what Jesus meant when He said those words in Acts 20:35.
—Kenneth Gibson, Louisville, Kentucky
“It is more blessed to give than to receive.“ – Acts 20:35
