Issue 1488 – Boxes and Tins – July 2, 2024

Some years ago, a friend gave me some old wooden cigar boxes. Neither of us smokes, but he had collected quite a few of the little boxes over the years. Like me, he likes little wooden boxes or tins of various types to store treasures. The treasures can be anything from pencils and pencils to nuts and bolts. Ever since I was a child, I have always enjoyed boxes and tins of “stuff.”

I have a tin with a few pocket knives, a bear claw, some arrowheads, a pen knife that belonged to my grandfather, and a couple of cheap pocket watches in it. One of my cigar boxes now holds scissors. Another has pens. Yet another has a variety of “stuff” that defies classification but consists of things I use now and then at my desk.

Years ago, I used to haunt community auctions, and my favorite thing to bid on was miscellaneous boxes. One auctioneer I know calls them boxes of “GSM,” which is good saleable merchandise. Some would call them boxes of junk. 

A few dollars on a couple of boxes always produced a treasure or two … at least in my eyes. An interesting widget. A book on an unusual subject. A sterling silver pocket knife. An unusual tool. Anything that was not of interest could be given to the local thrift store or be resold at auction.

If you have been reading for any length of time, you will know that I also enjoy thrift stores, garage sales, and old-fashioned small-town hardware shops. It is hard to pass by a second-hand books store, especially if I know it carries a variety of Christian materials. I’ve panned for gold, scoured abandoned farmsteads for collectible “stuff,” and picked more than my share of interesting rocks and minerals in my travels.

I have never found anything that would qualify as a great treasure or of huge monetary value. I enjoy the hunt for the unusual. I guess that is my childlike sense of wonder coming out. Some might say childish, but I prefer childlike.

Believers are called to be childlike.

At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 18:1-4

Childlike only in the sense that we learn to trust Father the way a young child trusts their parents. We are not called to set aside our intellect or our reason, but we are called to be humble and trust.

Note that Jesus does not call us to be childish. The world (and the church) is full of immature, spoiled, self-centered adults who need to get a grip and grow up. We are also not told to be babies in our faith. The Word constantly refers to our need to mature in Christ and become more like Him.

About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, or everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. Hebrews 5:11-14

Until next time, may you find the balance that enables you to be childlike in your faith while growing in maturity.

Be blessed

Hallelu Yah / Praise God 

Kevin

Gleanings From The Word

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Soli Deo Gloria (For the glory of God alone)

Never let the enemy tell you that you are worthless or insignificant. Your value in God’s eyes is so great that it was worth dying for. You are a blessing to the world. You are so precious to God that his plan for heaven will not be complete without you.

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Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are from the English Standard Version (ESV)