JOSHUA TIME 390

CLAY BALLS



> A man was exploring caves by the seashore. In one of the> >caves he found a canvas bag with a bunch of hardened clay balls. It was> >like someone had rolled clay balls and left them out in the sun to bake.> > >> > > They didn't look like much, but they intrigued the man, so> >he took the bag out of the cave with him. As he strolled along the> >beach, he would throw the clay balls one at a time out into the ocean as> >far as he could.> > >> > > He thought little about it, until he dropped one of the> >clay balls and it cracked open on a rock. Inside was a beautiful, precious> >stone!> > >> > > Excited, the man started breaking open the remaining clay> >balls. Each contained a similar treasure. He found thousands of> >dollars worth of jewels in the 20 or so clay balls he had left. Then it> >struck him.> > >> > > He had been on the beach a long time. He had thrown maybe> >50 or 60 of the clay balls with their hidden treasure into the ocean> >waves. Instead of thousands of dollars in treasure, he could have taken> >home tens of thousands, but he had just thrown it away!> > >> > > It's like that with people. We look at someone, maybe even> >ourselves, and we see the external clay vessel. It doesn't look like> >much from the outside. It isn't always beautiful or sparkling, so we> >discount it.> > >> > > We see that person as less important than someone more> >beautiful or stylish or well known or wealthy But we have not taken the> >time to find the treasure hidden inside that person.> > >> > > There is a treasure in each and every one of us. If we> >take the time to get to know that person, and if we ask God to show us that> >person the way He sees them, then the clay begins to peel away and the> >brilliant gem begins to shine forth.> > >> > > May we not come to the end of our lives and find out that> >we have thrown away a fortune in friendships because the gems were hidden> >in bits of clay. May we see the people in our world as God sees them.> > >> > > I am so blessed by the gems of friendship I have with each> >of you. Thank you for looking beyond my clay vessel.> >