“The Paper Boy”

 

DISCUSSION:                                          

 

There is a short story that is told about a young paper boy. It’s said that an older man was on his way to work one morning and he heard this young voice calling out, “Morning Paper, Get Your Morning Paper.” It was a cold rainy day in November and as he looked up, he saw this thinly clad young boy, shivering in a doorway, soaked to the skin. He had no shoes and watched as he would lift one foot and press it against his leg to get a little warmth and then the other one. Every few minutes he would call out “Morning Paper, Get Your Morning Paper.”

 

Now the man was well protected by his coat and his umbrella and he stopped to buy the early edition. And he said to the paper boy, “This kind of weather is pretty hard on you, isn’t it?” Looking up with a smile, the youngster replied, “I don’t mind too much. The sun will shine again.”

 

What a picture of a Christian life! Chilling winds of adversity and gray skies of a sinful environment can easily discourage us. But we can always count on better days because we know God is working in our lives. How fitting that this hope is called an “anchor of our souls”!

 

I read a story about a man in his mid-sixties who had a massive stroke. It left him paralyzed on his right side and he could no longer make conversation. He was a good Christian man who loved his family and his God. Often times he would communicate with people using body language. In middle Tennessee he enjoyed his country music. One of his all-time favorite songs was about the little paper boy Jimmy Brown. It went something like this: I sell the morning paper sir, my name is Jimmy Brown. Everybody knows that I’m the news boy of the town. I can’t remember how the rest of it went except that Little Jimmy had no hat upon his head or shoes upon his feet. — We must learn to enjoy the simple things of life and remain faithful to our God.

 

1 Corinthians 3:13 says, “Hope Abides.”

 

Titus 1:2, “a faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life, which God who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time.”

 

1 Peter 1:3, “It is a living hope, founded on the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.”

 

Are you a prisoner of circumstances beyond your control? Do the pressures of life sometimes overwhelm you? Remember, Jesus died for you. He is working in you and will never leave you. Hold fast to God’s promises and patiently endure. Just like our little Paper Boy, the anchor of hope will hold you firm.

 

It has been said many times, “It is always darkest just before dawn.”