In a shack on a rocky plot of land, there was a poor man living a meager existence. One day there was a knock on his door and as he cracked it open and peered out, a deliveryman said “Good news!” and handed him an envelope. The poor man sat on his wobbly three-legged stool and opened it. His brother had died and left him his house on a huge plot of land.
The man hadn’t known his brother since they were children but had heard about his successful farm and generous nature. By no efforts of his own, the poor man had become the beneficiary of his brother’s hard work and kindness. Overwhelmed and curious to see this gift he’d been given, he immediately packed his horse and rode off.
When he came to his brother’s sprawling valley, he was overcome with awe and relief. He couldn’t believe it was all his own. It was clear the house was well-kept and the land was fertile and tilled for seed. The man closed his eyes, took a deep breath of his new life and with great love and gratitude, remembered his brother.
After walking the property and taking stock of the abundant provisions, the man found himself at the pile of the things he had carried from his shack. His pot and utensils, his raggedy old coat, his rusted hoe, a bag of moldy seeds and the wobbly old stool he had fashioned out of fire wood. These feeble things had no place in the beautiful new life his brother had given him. He left them in the dirt and walked away mightily in his brother’s kind favor.
Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:13-14
Meeting God at the Park 