Reminder of the joy He brings

Jim Honeycutt

Chaplain-Baptist Minister

Standing in the kitchen this morning making for myself a piece of toast and a cup of coffee, I heard an old truck with its exhaust leak slowly passing my house. The sound of that old truck, along with the smell of the toast and coffee, caused a wave of nostalgia to waft over me.

In my mind, I began to visualize the memories of a younger self, pausing for a moment I drew them closer for reflection. 

I see on the living room floor of a simple wooden country home, two young children playing, their mother cooking breakfast, as the smell of her coffee and toast floats throughout the house. 

Suddenly the children jump up, running through the house to the back door. They have heard the arrival of a truck as it pulled into the driveway. And this isn’t any ole truck pulling in, it’s the truck of their grandfather coming to see them. 

Meeting him at the back door as he steps up on the porch, each one is standing with their hand out. Their mother in the kitchen, steps away from the stove for a moment, to greet her father-in-law. She is just in time to see him place a nickel in each child’s hand and get a hug. I wish you wouldn’t do that she says to him. He just smiles. You’re teaching my children to beg. He smiles broader, telling her it’s not begging, it’s sharing his love and the joy it brings him is worth more than a few coins. 

My grandfather Honeycutt died when I was very young. So I don’t really have many memories of my time with him, but I remember this day… and it only cost him a nickel.

I was at the new car wash in Lockhart the other day drying off my truck after running it through the facility. I was about to vacuum out the interior when I noticed a black lump of mess discarded by the sidewalk. It was about the size of my palm, looking rather disgusting. Taking a closer look, as I went to pick it up and dispose of it, I thought I could make out the circular lines of a coin. Scooping up the cast away, I realized what I held.

Walking over to the area containing an all-purpose cleaner, holding the lump under the nozzle, I carefully sprayed while gently rubbing away the grime. Within a few minutes what was once a rejected mess, was a shiny handful of coins. It wasn’t a lot, but the lesson I was reminded of was worth the time spent cleaning up what someone else had cast off. What they saw no worth in, I found with the proper cleaning, time and effort to be valued. A value hidden by appearance.

Sitting here as I write out my thoughts I think of all the ways I could use these two simple reflections to tell you of the Love of God. Some I think are pretty cleaver. Yet I feel The Holy Spirit is wanting me to tell it to you in a very straight forward way. So here goes…

First and foremost, you, my friend, have value. A great deal of value! A value that even though many don’t see is of great worth. The trials of life may make it hard to discern, yet in Our Creators eyes your worth to Him is greater than tongue can tell or pen can write.

When the muck of mistakes and error have left you like a discarded mess. When the weight of your toxic relationships have devalued your worth in your own eyes. When the hopelessness of failed aspirations have deflated your dreams for tomorrow. When those around you are drowning in self-loathing. Even when your own family members have written you off.

He is The One who desires to come to you, like my grandfather, when he came to visit me when I was a child, He brings gifts of joy in His love for you. He wants to give you these things… renewal, restoration, rest. He wants to share with you these things… hope, peace, direction.

And doesn’t expect nor want you to beg, they are yours for the asking. But you must greet Him. When He comes (and He does) to the door of your heart, when He knocks soft and gentle, get up, invite Him in. His promise to you is if you make this commitment to Him, allowing Him to fellowship with you He will lift you up. He will lift you up, though you might appear to be a discarded lump, and gently cleanse you until you are shinier than new. He has paid the price by the cost of Jesus blood on the cross to give you a hope and a future. I share with you this treasure I have been given.

But the joy and peace I receive from His hand is greater than I can express. And this morning I was reminded of all this.