A Treasure to Her

Scripture References: 1 Samuel 14:25-26; 2 Corinthians 11:29

When James Reed was banished from the Donner party for killing one of its members, his wife, Margaret, was left to care for their four children, including eight-year-old Patty. After three harrowing, cannibalistic months in the Sierra Nevada mountains, the survivors emerged from their holes in the snow when the first rescue party arrived. When they were finally safe at Fort Sutter, Patty pulled a bundle from her ragged dress. It held a lock of her grandmother’s hair and a four-inch doll. She had carried them all the way from Springfield, Illinois, keeping them with her through the horrors of starvation in the mountains. Small as they were, the items represented hope to a little girl who had experienced in a few months more terror than most adults experience in a lifetime.

Possessions that relate to an important event or person in our life take on a priceless value—we say sentimental—whatever their original cost. Christians have such a possession—the Lord’s Supper—and because we know what it cost, we treasure it and revere the Lord who instituted it.

Courtesy of Speaker’s Sourcebook of New Illustrations by Virgil Hurley © 1995 by Word, Incorporated.
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.