I was told recently about something that Mrs. Elizabeth did while she was a teacher at the school – something that would “come back to her” many years later.

As many schoolteachers, Mrs. Elizabeth had one free period each day, until her principal came to her with a special request.  The principal told her that he needed her to teach a group of four boys who were struggling.  She asked the nature of their struggle.  The principal took her outside the building for privacy.  He informed her that the boys – which were in middle school – couldn’t read.

Mrs. Elizabeth accepted the challenge.  She wondered how she could get the boys interested in reading.  She decided to read Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Tom Sawyer to them.  She thought they might find the book interesting.  They did.

She began by simply reading the book to them, trying to get them hooked.  Then, when they expressed an interest in knowing “what happened next,” she would give each one a turn in reading aloud.  She would patiently assist each reader through the words, sounds, and pronunciation.  In time, each of them was reading on his own.  Mrs. Elizabeth couldn’t have been happier.

Years later, Mrs. Elizabeth was experiencing electrical problems in her home.  She found an electrician to come to identify the problem.  The electrician assessed the situation and determined that her entire house needed to be rewired.  Fearing that it would be terribly expensive, she asked how much it would cost.

The conversation went something like this:

“You don’t remember me, do you?” the electrician asked.

“No, not yet.  Who are you?” Mrs. Elizabeth inquired.

“I’m one of the four boys that you taught to read.  You changed my life by teaching me to read.  I could never have done as well as I have – even owned this electrical company – if you hadn’t helped me.”

“The price for rewiring your house?  It’s not going to cost you a thing.  It’s my way of saying thank you for what you did for me.”

“Cast your bread upon the waters, For you will find it after many days.” – Ecclesiastes 11:1

Jesus Christ did more than cast His bread upon the waters; He gave His life on the cross for the sins of the world (John 10:17-18; 1 John 2:2).  Even now, almost 2 centuries later, you and I can receive the blessings of what He did for us that day.  He died on the cross to pay the price for our redemption from sin so that we might receive the gift of eternal life (Ephesians 1:7; Romans 6:23).

Jesus is the “Bread of Life” (John 6:35), and those who “partake” of Him through their trusting obedience will have salvation and eternal life.