[Darlene]

The Wicker Basket

The story is told of an old man who lived on a farm in the
mountains of eastern Kentucky with his young grandson. Each morning, Grandpa was up early sitting at the kitchen table reading from his old worn-out Bible. His grandson who wanted to be just like him tried to imitate him in any way he could.

One day the grandson asked, 'Papa, I try to read the Bible just
like you but I don't understand it, and what I do understand I forget as
soon as I close the book. What good does reading the Bible do?' The
Grandfather quietly turned from putting coal in the stove and said, 'Take this
old wicker coal basket down to the river and bring back a basket of water.'
The boy did as he was told, even though all the water leaked out before he
could get back to the house. The grandfather laughed and said, 'You
will have to move a little faster next time,' and sent him back to the
river with the basket to try again. This time the boy ran faster, but again
the old wicker basket was empty before he returned home. out of breath, he
told his grandfather that it was 'impossible to carry water in a basket,'
and he went to get a bucket instead. The old man said, 'I don't want a bucket of water; I want a basket of water. You can do this. You're just not trying hard enough,' and he went out the door to watch the boy try again.

At this point, the boy knew it was impossible, but he wanted to
show his grandfather that even if he ran as fast as he could, the water
would leak out before he got far at all. The boy scooped the water and ran
hard, but when he reached his grandfather the basket was again empty. Out of breath, he said, 'See Papa, it's useless!'

'So you think it is useless?' The old man said, 'Look at the basket.'

The boy looked at the basket and for the first time he realized
that the basket looked different. Instead of a dirty old wicker coal basket,
it was clean.

'Son, that's what happens when you read the Bible. You might not
understand or remember everything, but when you read it, it will change you from the inside out.'

Moral of the wicker basket story: Take time to read a portion of God's word each day; it will affect you for good even if you don't retain a word.

Thought for Today: Gods Love is like the ocean, you can see its
beginnings but not its end.

I really like this story because I don't retain things too well
anymore...old age may have something to do with it but I just
figure my brain just gets overloaded! God isn't concerned about your brain
anyway,

He's more concerned about your heart.