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An
Outreach Publication of the Church of Christ at
Creekwood |
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Earning My Place In September of 2005, on the first day of school, Martha Cothren, a social studies schoolteacher at Joe T. Robinson High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, did something not to be forgotten. On the first day of school, with permission of the school superintendent, the principal and the building supervisor, she took all of the desks out of the classroom. The kids came into first period, they walked in; there were no desks. They looked around and said, "Ms. Cothren, where are our desks?" Ms.
Cothren replied, "You
can't have a desk until you tell me how you earn
them." They
thought, "Well, maybe it's our grades." First period ended, and still there were no desks in the classroom. Second period, same thing. Third period, no desks. By early afternoon television news crews had gathered in Ms. Cothren's class to find out about this crazy teacher who had taken all the desks out of the classroom. The last period of the day, Martha Cothren gathered her class. They were at this time sitting on the floor around the sides of the room. And she says, "Throughout the day no one has really understood how you earn the desks that sit in this classroom ordinarily." She said, "Now I'm going to tell you." Martha Cothren went over to the door of her classroom and opened it, and as she did 27 U.S. veterans, wearing their uniforms, walked into that classroom, each one carrying a school desk. The veterans placed the school desks in rows, and then they stood along the wall. By the time they had finished placing the desks, the children perhaps for the first time in their lives understood how they earned those desks. Ms.
Cothren said, "You
don't have to earn those desks. These guys did it for
you! They put them out there for you, but it's up to
you to sit here responsibly to learn, to be good
students and good citizens.
They paid a price for you to have that desk.
Don't ever forget it." * Similarly, there is a place for YOU at the Lord’s table. It is a place of honor and blessing, wonderful blessings like peace, grace, sonship, and life! “What must I do to take MY seat at the Lord’s table?” you ask. You can’t EARN it. Someone paid the price for you to have a place at the Table. Jesus Christ, God’s Son, died on the cross for you so that you might have the forgiveness of sins and a place at His table as a child of God (Ephesians 1:7; Galatians 4:4-6). You must ACCEPT it. You can accept the Lord’s gracious offer by believing Him (Acts 16:30-31), turning from sin in repentance (Acts 17:30-31), confessing Him before men (Romans 10:9-10), and being baptized (immersed) in His name for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38). You must also commit to following Him, for the rest of your life. Jesus paid a HIGH price for you to have a place at His table. Don’t ever forget it. But please, accept it on His terms – and enjoy the eternal feast! Won’t
YOU? David A. Sargent, Minister Church
of Christ at Creekwood * See snopes.com -- http://www.snopes.com/glurge/nodesks.asp To Subscribe to "Living Water" send a blank e-mail to:
HTML version: subscribe-livingwater@lyris.dundee.net Follow this link to locate the church of Christ nearest you: www.churchzip.com Archived issues of "Living Water" can be accessed from our website at: www.creekwoodcc.org
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