In his book, Improving Your Serve, author and pastor Chuck Swindoll tells the following story:
Shortly after World War II came to a close, Europe began picking up the pieces. Much of the Old Country had been ravaged by war and was in ruins. Perhaps the saddest sight of all was that of little orphaned children starving in the streets of those war-torn cities.
Early one chilly morning, an American soldier was making his way back to the barracks in London. As he turned the corner of his jeep, he spotted a little lad with his nose pressed to the window of a pastry shop. Inside, the baker was kneading dough for a fresh batch of doughnuts. The hungry boy stared in silence, watching every move. The soldier pulled his jeep to the curb, stopped, got out, and walked quietly over to where the little fellow was standing. Through the steamed-up window he could see the mouthwatering morsels as they were being pulled from the oven, piping hot. The boy salivated and released a slight groan as he watched the baker place them onto the glass-enclosed counter ever so carefully.
The soldier’s heart went out to the nameless orphan as he stood beside him. “Son, would you like some of those?” The boy startled. “Oh yeah … I would.” The American soldier stepped inside and bought a dozen, put them in a bag, and walked back to where the lad was standing in the foggy cold of the London morning. He smiled, held out the bag, and said simply, “Here you are.” As he turned to walk away, he felt a tug on his coat. He looked back and heard the child ask quietly, “Mister, are you God?”
Like the American soldier, we are never more like Jesus than when we submit to righteous impulses and do what is good and right. That is what light in darkness means. When we are fully devoted to the King, our light and good works ultimately will conquer the darkness.
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