PROMISES
A Wall Street clerk went for a tuna sandwich one snowy noon and returned to work and found $37.1 million in negotiable certificates of deposit in a pouch dropped by a courier. The clerk turned them over to his supervisor, who notified the securities company. The man received a $250 reward for his honesty. As it turned out, though, that was more than the certificates were worth to him—-they could only be converted with special clearance.
People trust promises that are like those certificates. They seem important, but they aren’t. They seem so worthwhile, but they wind up being terribly disappointing. They promise millions, but return pennies.
The world promises happiness through wealth and fame that are tantalizing and alluring but, ultimately they betray us. They leave us bitter, heartsick, and spiritually bankrupt. Only the promise of God’s unshakable kingdom can offer what we really need: an undisturbed inner peace and joy, a sense of accomplishment, a faultless righteousness, and an unbroken life.
(SOURCE: Hurley, V., 2000, c1995. Speaker’s sourcebook of new illustrations, electronic ed., 111. Dallas: Word Publishers. From a sermon by David Scudder, "The Revealing of the King" 7/19/08)