TODAY’S DEVOTIONAL PASSAGE

DEVOTIONAL

by Elder Chris Beltran

Sharing this material I got from Business matters:

Jeremy was born with a twisted body and a slow mind. At age 12, he was still in 2nd grade, seemingly unable to learn. His teacher, Ms. Doris,  often became exasperated with him. He would squirm in his seat, drool, and make grunting noises that often disrupted the class.

    One day, teacher Doris called his parents for a meeting. She said to them, “Jeremy really belongs in a special school. It isn’t fair to him to be with younger children who don’t have learning problems.” Jeremy’s dad spoke up. “There is no school of that kind nearby. It would be a terrible shock for Jeremy if we had to take him out of this school. We know he really likes it here.”

After they had left, Teacher Doris struggled with this problem. She wanted to sympathize with Jeremy’s parents, but he had a terminal illness. It wasn’t fair to keep him in her class while she had 18 other students to teach, and Jeremy was a distraction. Why waste time trying when he would never learn to read and write like the others and doesn’t even have much time left?

        As Easter was coming, teacher Doris told them the story of Jesus. She then gave each student an empty plastic egg and instructed them to bring it back tomorrow with something inside that shows new life.

All the children responded excitedly, all except for Jeremy. He just listened intently, and his eyes never left her face. Had he understood the assignment?

The following day, all 19 children came to school and excitedly placed their eggs in the large basket on the teacher’s desk. Now it was time to open the eggs. In the first one, she found a flower. She said, “a flower is certainly a sign of new life.” The next egg contained a plastic butterfly. “Yes, we all know that a caterpillar changes and grows into a beautiful butterfly. That’s new life!”

       When teacher Doris opened the next egg, she was surprised that it was empty. Surely it must be Jeremy’s, she thought, “he must not have understood the instructions.” So as not to embarrass him, she quietly set the egg aside to reach for another egg when Jeremy suddenly spoke up. “Teacher Doris, aren’t you going to talk about my egg?”

She replied, “But Jeremy, your egg is empty.” He looked into her eyes and said softly, “Yes, Jesus’ tomb was empty too.”

The classroom became silent. God has just spoken. After gathering herself, Doris asked Jeremy, “do you know why the tomb was empty?”  “Oh, yes,” Jeremy said. “Jesus was killed and buried in there. Then His Father raised him up.”

The recess bell rang, and all the children ran out to the schoolyard to play. Teacher Doris just cried and cried. The coldness inside her completely melted away. The Lord had just spoken to her through this seemingly worthless and hopeless child she was complaining about. 

Three months later, Jeremy died. Those who paid their respects at the memorial chapel were surprised to see on top of his casket 19 eggs—all empty. 

REFLECTION

As His followers, are we being judgmental by showing partiality? All people have equal worth in God’s eyes. Even those born with physical defects, different skin color, another social status, etc. We must not conclude that a person has no more worth because of his condition. God used Jeremy to deliver a powerful message of the resurrection that even his teacher’s heart melted. Keep praying, keep on caring, keep on loving, like Jesus. 

PRAYER

Lord, in our passage today, You chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; You chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. You chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not, to nullify the things that are so that no one may boast before him. Please help me not to be filled with pride and arrogance but continue to be a humble, faithful servant in the service of the King. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Reference: Business Matters