The Jewellery Box

It was her birthday, she was going to be 10 years old. She woke up with bouts of extra excitement, for she remembered her father telling her the night before that he had something very special to give her today. She is so glad today has finally come!

She rushed downstairs, still in her nightgown, her parents were at the table, having breakfast. "Happy birthday" they cheered, with jubilation and much clapping.

Her father beckoned for her to come a little closer and he proceeded to present her with a beautifully wrapped gift. She was excited. She unwrapped the gift ever so carefully, not wanting to ruin it's beauty, little did she know that what laid inside the pretty wrapping paper was even more beautiful and precious. And then she saw the gift; it was the most beautiful jewellery box she had ever seen. She had been admiring a jewellery box from the shop window, down the street for as long as she could remember, but this particular jewellery box was even more beautiful that the one in the shop window. It was pink and had shiny bits attached to it. The inside was carefully laid with a pink satin cloth and yellow ribbons, and when you closed the box, a shiny gold lock was on the cover, attached to a key, to lock it and keep it's impending contents safe. She was ever so pleased with her gift. But then there was more.

She turned around thanked her daddy, but to her greater delight her mummy promptly presented her with another present. This time it was a beautiful fresh water pearl necklace, with a matching bracelet! Her mummy handed it to her and said "now you are a big girl, with a pearl necklace and a jewellery box. The box is to keep all your precious jewellery ssafe from harm and accessible whenever you need to pick one to wear for all those special occasions you will be attending in the future." She felt so grown up!

She was ecstatic she thought to herself "I have the best parents in the whole wide world". As time went on, she acquired, lots of jewellery; necklaces, bracelets and rings and she kept them all safe in her precious jewellery box. Ever so often, when she had an event to attend, she would go into this box, pick up the perfect piece of jewellery just for that event.

There were instances when she did not have an event to attend, yet she would simply go into the jewellery box, observe the contents, made sure they were in top condition; she cleaned and polished them so they were gleaming. Sometimes she would simply wear a piece of jewellery just because she was happy or just because she wanted to feel it's closeness to her skin or simply observe it's beauty.

She wore her jewellery on both happy and sad occasions. A sad occasion was such as when grandma Louise died. She was real sad, as she loved her grandma very much. She had to attend the funeral service in a dark outfit and that made her even more sad, and then she thought, I would wear one of my necklaces to make me feel better. So she reached into her jewellery box and found the prettiest necklace, and she wore it along with her outfit. This made her feel much better, infact when she arrived at the service, everyone commented on her necklace and said she was a brave girl for being so pretty for grandma Louise. The necklace it seemed took away her sadness.

Now think about the HEART OF MAN, envisage this to be the jewellery box and the WORD OF GOD; liken this to be to the jewellery that goes into the box. Now picture the word of God as precious jewels given to you, one at a time and you keeping them safe, locked up within the corners of your heart. Awesome isn't it?

Now, how do we get the word of God into our hearts and keep it safe I hear you ask?

We do this by studying the bible, daily, diligently, in all seasons, through all situations. When we study the word, we should practice instances of memorising verses; of keeping these and the meanings the holy spirit gives to us within the walls of our hearts so that they do not depart. Such as the declaration of the Psalmist David in Psalm 119:11, it reads "Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You. "

When we enrich our hearts with the word of God, we are being diligent, as explained in Proverbs 4:23, it reads "4:23 that we should "Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life"

Imagine that. Issues of life flow out of the hearts. So it's safe to say, whatever we put in our hearts, either good or evil, will eventually flow out of it right?. If we store in the word of God in our heart the issues that will flow out will be of blessings, love, peace, joy and much more, and if we store away the world within our hearts, the issues that will flow out will be of hatred, jealousy, envy and much more. Which one would you choose?

To diligently hide and keep safe the word of God in our precious jewellery box, the heart, assists and enables us to sing to God with our hearts. Imagine that!!! If our hearts are not pure, we would not be able to worship God as we ought to - in spirit and in truth, such as described in Colossians 3:16 which reads "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord "

Finally, as the little girl was able to retrieve various precious pieces of jewellery for various occasions, we too should be able to reach within our hearts and retrieve precious pieces of the word of God to help us in in our daily reality, to assist us in that situation, that circumstance, that trial or tribulation, or simply to help us remember the one who is the reason for us being here.

Remember, the word of God is powerful and able to pierce through and rectify any circumstance as explained in Hebrews 4:12, which reads "For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

It is to our very great advantage that we understand the jewellery box that is our heart, guard it with all our might, but most importantly fill that jewellery box with the most precious pieces ever known to man - the precious word of God.

I encourage you today to make the living word of God your daily bread. Delve into it's richness daily. Store, the contents and it's meaning within the walls of your heart, for when you find yourself in the valley during your daily journey, I promise you, it is that very word that you stored a month, or two or a few years ago, that will reach down and pull you out into victory and unto higher ground.

Have a wonderful day loosing yourself in the realms of God's word, whilst making Him famous along the way.

Much Love

Remi Banjo

All pictures by photobucket***