Daily Devotional for January 30, 2019
Myrtle the Turtle
“Guess what, Mom?” Amir pointed to a webpage on his computer screen. “They’re having a turtle race at the downtown festival again this year! I’m going to enter Myrtle in it.”
Mom laughed. “Okay. Who knows? Maybe she’ll win.”
“I think she will,” said Amir. “I’ll start training her right away.”
For several weeks before the race, Amir worked with Myrtle. According to the rules, he couldn’t touch the turtle in any way during the race, but just about anything else to get the turtle to move was allowed.
The day of the race dawned bright and clear. Excitement ran high as each contestant placed a turtle at the starting line. A loud BANG! signaled the beginning of the race. The kids let their turtles go and then screamed, clapped their hands, and even blew on their turtles to get them to move faster.
Amir didn’t try any of those methods. He calmly took a piece of wax paper from his pocket. In it he had wrapped some choice worms—Myrtle’s favorite food! Amir dangled a worm in front of Myrtle’s eyes, and his turtle moved faster and faster trying to get the tasty, squirming morsel. “Come on, Myrtle,” he encouraged her quietly. “You can do it!”
To Amir’s delight, Myrtle was the first to cross the finish line. He promptly taped the blue ribbon to her back.
“Those worms really did the trick,” Amir said on the drive home. “And you know what? I even had one left over for Myrtle’s dessert!”
Dad laughed. “You know, strange as it may seem, the turtle race today reminded me of the race we enter when we become Christians. Myrtle kept her eyes on that worm, and by following it, she won the race. We need to always keep our eyes on Jesus and follow Him.”
Amir grinned. “And just like Myrtle kept looking forward to getting the worm, we look forward to seeing Jesus face-to-face one day, right?” He laughed. “That sure sounds better than a worm!” – Charles VanderMeer
How about you?
Have you entered the race by trusting Jesus as your Savior? If so, keep your eyes on Him. Trust Him to be with you and help you in every situation. Spend time getting to know Him better by talking to Him, reading about Him in the Bible, and worshiping Him with other Christians. Depend on Him for strength to help you run the race, knowing that one day you’ll see Him face-to-face.
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