June 29 – “Contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality . . .”

The mountains were quaking and the lightening was flashing up, up into the heavens when the King’s spokesman presented himself before the King, to make his unattainable request. Bowing down before the King he said,

"If now I have found favor in Your sight, O King, I pray, let the King go along in our midst, even though the people are so timid, and more than a little obstinate, and sometimes even . . . very ill-behaved . . . and take us, O mighty King, as Your own possession."

The mountains roared and the skies quaked and the clouds split at his words!

And . . . behold! . . . instead of banishing the spokesman from His presence forever . . . the King gave answer . . . and the King said . . .

“Behold, I am going to make a covenant. I am going to do before this people things that have never been seen in all the earth. It is a fearful thing that I am about to do . . . I am about to drive this people’s enemies away from them, forever . . .”

The King told His spokesman to say to the people:

Gather from among you an offering. From every willing-hearted man and woman, receive on the King's behalf what everyone is willing to give.

Now - the people of the land had wonderful treasure which they had acquired when the King had delivered them from a terrible tyrant in a land of pyramids and black magic . . . but . . . that, my dear readers . . . is another story.

"Come,” said the King’s spokesman, “all of the skilled ones among you, come and bring and make everything that the King requires . . . that the King might be more near to us than all His Presence on the smoking mountain.”

You will recall that the King had never asked anything of the people, except that they would not follow after the dangerous beckoning specters which lived round about. It is nevertheless true that when a King is glorious and majestic and generous and good, it gives great honor to His people to bring gifts before Him. Real gifts . . . not the slave labor variety or the kind you bring because you know it will be “Off with your head!” if you don’t.

So everyone in the community left the presence of the spokesman . . . and then . . .

. . . they came again! . . . every one whose heart was roused, whose spirit was freely responsive, all the willing-hearted among them, offering up their gold jewelry to the King. And blue, purple, and scarlet fabrics; fine linen . . . Everyone who wanted to offer up silver or bronze as a gift to the King brought it. Whatever they had that could be used in the work, the willing-hearted people brought it. All the women skilled at weaving brought their weavings of blue and purple and scarlet fabrics and their fine linens. And all the women who were gifted in spinning began to spin . . .

Tune in tomorrow for the exciting finish to our tale!


"The Heavens Quaked!"
photo by Kerry