Elizabeth Giddens is a sweet 95-year-old lady that lives
in Hawthorne, Florida. I know her
because she married a man that I knew and loved, Ben Giddens, who passed away
in 2011. They lived in Mobile, Alabama,
for a while. As long as I’ve known Mrs.
Elizabeth, she has always been kind and a pleasure to be around.
Mrs. Elizabeth moved backed down to her home in Hawthorne
a few years ago. She moved back into the
old house where she lived across from the school where she once taught home
economics.
I was told recently about something that Mrs. Elizabeth
did while she was a teacher at the school – something that would “come back to
her” many years later.
As many schoolteachers, Mrs. Elizabeth had one free
period each day, until her principal came to her with a special request. The principal told her that he needed her to
teach a group of four boys who were struggling.
She asked the nature of their struggle.
The principal took her outside the building for privacy. He informed her that the boys – which were in
middle school – couldn’t read.
Mrs. Elizabeth accepted the challenge. She wondered how she could get the boys
interested in reading. She decided to
read Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Tom Sawyer to them. She thought they might find the book interesting. They did.
She began by simply reading the book to them, trying to
get them hooked. Then, when they
expressed an interest in knowing “what happened next,” she would give each one
a turn in reading aloud. She would
patiently assist each reader through the words, sounds, and pronunciation. In time, each of them was reading on his
own. Mrs. Elizabeth couldn’t have been
happier.
Years later, Mrs. Elizabeth was experiencing electrical
problems in her home. She found an
electrician to come to identify the problem.
The electrician assessed the situation and determined that her entire
house needed to be rewired. Fearing that
it would be terribly expensive, she asked how much it would cost.
The conversation went something like this:
“You don’t remember me, do you?” the electrician asked.
“No, not yet. Who
are you?” Mrs. Elizabeth inquired.
“I’m one of the four boys that you taught to read. You changed my life by teaching me to
read. I could never have done as well as
I have – even owned this electrical company – if you hadn’t helped me.”
“The price for rewiring your house? It’s not going to cost you a thing. It’s my way of saying thank you for what you
did for me.”
“Cast your bread upon the waters, For you will find it
after many days.” – Ecclesiastes 11:1
Jesus Christ did more than cast His bread upon the
waters; He gave His life on the cross for the sins of the world (John 10:17-18;
1 John 2:2). Even now, almost 2
centuries later, you and I can receive the blessings of what He did for us that
day. He died on the cross to pay the
price for our redemption from sin so that we might receive the gift of eternal
life (Ephesians 1:7; Romans 6:23).
Jesus is the “Bread of Life” (John 6:35), and those who
“partake” of Him through their trusting obedience will have salvation and
eternal life.
God will save and give eternal life to those who place
their faith and trust in Jesus (Acts 16:30-31), turn from their sins in
repentance (Acts 17:30-31), confess Jesus before men (Romans 10:9-10), and are
baptized (immersed) into Christ for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38). He will continue to cleanse from sin those
who continue to walk in the light of His Word (1 John 1:7).
Won’t YOU partake of the life-giving Bread of life
through your trusting obedience?
-- David A. Sargent
* Many thanks to Cubby & Anita Sellers for sharing
this story of Mrs. Elizabeth with me.
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