The Peace prize
2009-11-06 - Arno & Lindsey van Niekerk
I read this wonderful story on the internet that I know you will love.
There once was a King who offered a prize to the artist who would paint the best picture of peace. Many artists tried. The King looked at all the pictures, but there were only two he really liked and he had to choose between them.
One picture was of a calm lake. The lake was a perfect mirror for peaceful towering mountains were all around it. Overhead was a blue sky with fluffy white clouds. All who saw this picture thought that it was a perfect picture of peace.
The other picture had mountains too. But these were rugged and bare. Above was an angry sky from which rain fell, in which lightening played. Down the side of the mountain tumbled a foaming waterfall. This did not look peaceful at all.
But when the King looked, he saw behind the waterfall a tiny bush growing in a crack in the rock. In the bush a mother bird had built her nest. There, in the midst of the rush of angry water, sat the mother bird on her nest ... perfect peace.
Which picture do you think won the prize?
The King chose the second picture.
Do you know why?
"Because," explained the King, "peace does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work. Peace means to be in the midst of all those things and still be calm in your heart. That is the real meaning of peace."
One picture was of a calm lake. The lake was a perfect mirror for peaceful towering mountains were all around it. Overhead was a blue sky with fluffy white clouds. All who saw this picture thought that it was a perfect picture of peace.
The other picture had mountains too. But these were rugged and bare. Above was an angry sky from which rain fell, in which lightening played. Down the side of the mountain tumbled a foaming waterfall. This did not look peaceful at all.
But when the King looked, he saw behind the waterfall a tiny bush growing in a crack in the rock. In the bush a mother bird had built her nest. There, in the midst of the rush of angry water, sat the mother bird on her nest ... perfect peace.
Which picture do you think won the prize?
The King chose the second picture.
Do you know why?
"Because," explained the King, "peace does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work. Peace means to be in the midst of all those things and still be calm in your heart. That is the real meaning of peace."
This tiny bush had its roots growing on and in the rock and the bird built its little nest in it. Jesus tells us to do the same thing. He says in Matthew 7:2-25, “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.” Jesus and the seven areas where His blood flowed for us are the rock of our house. The Bible says here that the rain will come and the wind will blow hard against us sometimes, but with Jesus we will be like this bird that build his little house of peace in the tree on the rock; we will have peace no matter what goes on around us.
I am sure that you have friends who don’t have peace in their hearts or in their homes. They are blown by the wind, left and right, up and down, getting wet because of all the rain. You need to go and tell your friends about the Rock, who is Jesus, so that they also can have a house and a heart of peace.
Get the Flash Player to see this rotator.
Join Bert Pretorius on Twitter Join Charne Pretorius on Twitter
Join Bert Pretorius on Facebook Join Charne Pretorius on Facebook
