BROWNIE CRUMBS

Mrs. Baughman was my 6th grade Sunday School teacher. One morning, she brought a pan of brownies to our class. As the goodies sat over by her chair, she gave each child a slip of paper marked with a household expense: house payment, utility bill, phone bill, entertainment, etc.

My slip had a car payment. Before long, Mrs. Baughman picked up the tray of brownies and began naming the expenses written on the papers. As we gave her our expenses, she redeemed each one for a brownie.

"Car payment" she announced. I jumped up to get my brownie from the pan. Finally the last brownie had disappeared. 

But one boy named Donald still held his unredeemed slip. "God!" called Mrs.Baughman. Donald came forward hoping the teacher had one more brownie hidden some where.

With a knife Mrs. Baughman scraped the crumbs from the bottom of the pan into Donald's napkin. He got a pretty raw deal, I thought -just crumbs. 

"The brownies represent your money and time", the teacher explained to us. "If you don't give God his share right away, He probably won't get anything except maybe the crumbs."

I never forgot that illustration. The day my friend Donald got only the brownie crumbs, even as a child I learned that God should have the first right to everything I have.

In the years since Mrs. Baughman class I have struggled with giving and priorities, But whenever I recall the "Crummy Sunday School Lesson", I know who should and must always come first in my life!

-- Author Unknown

TURN YOUR SECURITY SYSTEM ON!

A horrible thing happened to me today.....a thief broke into my house. It happened shortly after I awoke this morning. I got up and began rushing about. I had a thousand things on my list and was already running behind. Quickly, I gulped down breakfast, took a shower and got ready for work.

In my rush, I forgot to turn the security system on at my house. It was just about a half an hour later that the thief broke in. Of course, he didn't make a sound. Just kind of snuck inside, not drawing any attention to himself. In fact, none of the neighbors ever saw him.

But, I did.

You see, I WAS HOME when the thief broke in.

He naturally startled me, as I was unprepared for his visit. He, of course, didn't announce that he was coming and I certainly had not invited him over.

And yet, I found myself face to face with danger and I felt so powerless. Ialso felt so very stupid, because this whole incident could have been avoided if I had just taken the time to turn the security system on.

You better believe I'll be turning it on tomorrow morning! I thought I'd warn you about this guy, because he's still on the loose. Chances are, he's in your area. Possibly even headed for your house.

His name? His name is Satan. You see, this morning when I jumped up in my haste to get started on my busy day, I skipped my prayer time - opting to "pray later today." In other words, I DIDN'T TURN ON THE SECURITY SYSTEM. My defense wasn't on, my guard was dropped ..... and when the thief came into my home to attack me, I was unprepared to do battle. He tempted me and I felt powerless. Like I said, I also felt so very stupid, because I could have avoided the incident if I had just taken the time to pray.

My friend, the thief has come to "steal, kill and destroy." And, as a Child of God, you are on his "hit list." He'll probably pop over to your house today. He may be lurking outside your door right now, just waiting to catch you off guard.

Take time to pray this morning. Ask God to bind Satan from your very presence, to protect you and empower you to do battle. In short ..... don't forget to turn your security system on. 

-- Author Unknown