April 4, 2016 (Monday)
One of the advantages of being my age is the privilege of remembering what happened 80 years ago.
It would have been the year 1936, and I would not yet have attended school. There were things about that year, however, that I do remember, and one of those things was bubble gum. Gum was cheap in those days, certainly no more than a penny, and probably two for a penny. Lots of things like small candies and cookies were in jars at the store and sold for two for a penny.
The bubble gum wrapper had a short comic strip printed on it. We not only got gum, but we got a cartoon. As I recall, it was never very funny, but it was free with the gum. Some gum came in a little package with a baseball card.
Many kids started collecting the baseball cards, and traded them with their pals. In 1936, those cards were about baseball and the players. Today those cards are about their worth 80 years later. Hardly worth a penny each in those days, some of those cards fetch many thousands of dollars today.
I think back on how I unwrapped the gum and the card, chewed the gum and threw away the card. So many people disposed of the cards through the years, that the remaining cards became more valuable as the years went by.
Later on subjects of the cards involved other sports. I saw a card featuring a football player on the internet today. The player was Dan Marino and the card was selling for $25,000!
Jesus taught about many things. Some folks might be surprised to discover that one of his stories dealt with a valuable pearl. Once the buyer found out how much the pearl was worth, he raised all the money he could by selling everything he owned, so that he could buy one very expensive pearl. Jesus, however, was not really interested in our obtaining jewelry or wealth; he was teaching about the Kingdom of God. The point of the parable is that entering the kingdom is worth whatever sacrifice we may have to make.
The Apostle Paul testified that absolutely nothing is of more value to a person than a relationship with Jesus Christ. He considered any sacrifice insignificant, if it meant gaining Christ.
It will be worth it all when we see Jesus,
Life’s trials will seem so small when we see Christ;
One gliimpse of His dear face all sorrow will erase,
So bravely run the race till we see Christ.