8 October 2020 Once upon a time, an old man walked along the shore after a big storm had passed and found a beach littered with starfish as far as the eye could see. The old man could see that a boy was tossing stranded starfish from the sandy beach back into the sea. The old man asked “What are you doing, young man?” The boy replied, “If the starfish are still on the beach, they will die due to the lack of oxygen.” The old man questioned, “There are thousands of millions of starfish on the beach. It doesn’t matter how many you throw in; you can’t make a difference.” The boy answered, “It matters to this one.” Then he threw that starfish into the waves. “And it matters to this one.” Every time I read this story it still inspires me. “It matters to this one.” I always think I am one of the starfish. Without God’s mercy and grace, I don’t matter at all. God sent His beloved Son Jesus Christ to the world. He loves us and cares for us because we matter to him. By sacrificing himself for us on the cross, he took the punishment for all of our sins so that we can receive eternal life. From the sacrifice of Jesus’ crucifixion, we are shown how precious we are in God’s eyes. I always think we do not deserve His love, but he does love us and he chooses us. We are grateful to experience the depths of God’s love for us and the lengths he has taken to save us from our sins. Can you imagine being the boy who saved as many starfish as he could? The Bible says, “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” (Matthew 25:40) When you see schoolmates who are in need, you give help them; who sit alone in the classroom, you chat with them; who have learning difficulties, you teach them; who are upset for a whole day, you pray with them; who have dirty hands, you give them sanitizer, etc. All of these things you do because you think “it matters”, and what matters is not defined by others, but by yourself. If you focus on how you can love people more, then you will also care about hatred because it doesn’t deserve a place in our mind. Let your words and your actions be filled with love. We can overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.
Best regards, |
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“But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.“ |