Whoever Believes In Him
My second year in Montana was even better than the first. I moved out of my apartment in Lewistown and into a trailer that I shared with another teacher across the street from Moore's school. This cut my rent and utilities by more than half and I no longer had to buy gas to commute. What did I do with the money I saved? I traded in that humiliating Plymouth Horizon and bought a small, 4 wheel drive pick up.
Now that I was a Montana resident, I could also hunt deer, antelope and elk. Because I had taught grades 4, 5 and 6 the year before, I got most of my students back for a second year. I loved being able to teach the same group of kids. We made 2 field trips to the bank in Lewistown. We were learning about small businesses and I decided to have them take out a $100 loan. The banker was amazing, and we had the kids bring in 'collateral' to secure the loan. They brought favorite toy trucks, dolls, et cetera., and the banker put them in a box in his office.
It was amazing how real this was to the students, and the degree of stress that some of them felt about being in debt. We then bought carnations from the local flower shop and sold them as a fundraiser at the school. We bought the carnations for $1 each and sold them for $1.50, so made a profit of $50. The kids were beside themselves with excitement on our second field trip to pay off the loan. They wanted to be out of debt! After returning their precious collateral, the banker forgave the loan and we had enough money for a class pizza party. It's good that they were stressed about debt, and good that they wanted to be relieved of it.
The same thing is true for all of us spiritually. We are all in God's debt- THE WAGES OF SIN IS DEATH- but God has made away for us to be relieved of it: THE GIFT OF GOD IS ETERNAL LIFE IN CHRIST JESUS OUR LORD. The most important truth in human history- "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that WHOEVER believes in him will not perish but have eternal life." Be blessed! -Pastor Brad
Written on July 19, 2025
Posted in Daily Devotions