White Stones, Nursing Mothers, and Chubby Fingers
Monday, August 14, 2023
“Every individual believer is precious in the sight of the Lord. A shepherd would not lose one sheep, nor a jeweler one diamond, nor a mother one child, nor a man one limb of his body; nor will the Lord lose one of His redeemed people. However little we may be, if we are the Lord’s, we may rejoice that we are preserved in Christ Jesus.” – C.H. Spurgeon
I have a friend, Louie Tropf, who I often refer to as “the funniest man on Facebook.” In fact, I invite you to send him a friend request so you can enjoy his off-beat humor.
Not only are Louie’s posts side-splittingly funny, but his comments on other people’s pages are just as humorous. For instance, whenever I post a picture that contains more than one of our six grandkids, Louie will write, “Remind me again which one you said was your favorite.”
Leave it to Louie to try to stir up trouble… and some good-natured fun!
As Louie well knows, I love each of my grandkids the same. Brady will always have a a special place in my heart because he was our first grandchild. Likewise, Sadie was our first granddaughter, so she will always be “Papa’s princess.” Levi looks the most like me (poor guy) and has a mischievous spirit. Dylan calls me his “best buddy forever” and both Bella and Charlotte have their Papa wrapped around their chubby little fingers.
My unconditional love for those six little munchkins reminds me of God’s love for you and me. Each of us is different and yet, God doesn’t play favorites. He loves us all the same… with an everlasting love that we can only imagine.
My friend, don’t think for a minute that you are near the bottom of God’s totem pole. On the contrary, the Bible says that our names are inscribed on God’s hands and that Jesus will someday give us a white stone containing a new name, known only to Him and us.
I love the imagery of Isaiah 49:15… “Can a woman forget her nursing child, and not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely they may forget, yet I will not forget you.”
YES, you are that valuable to God!
“What do you think? If any man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains, and go and search for the one that is lost? And if it turns out that he finds it, truly I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that have not gone astray.” Matthew 18:12-13 (NASB)
- Rev. Dale M. Glading, President
