"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only
begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should
not  perish, but have everlasting life." - John 3:16

It was by far my most treasured toy.

Some kids had stuffed animals.  Others had stuffed teddy bears.  Me?  I had a stuffed starfish.  A bright red  stuffed starfish that I had won at the fair one fourth of July.

We were inseparable.

I took that  stuffed starfish with me wherever I went.  I  cuddled up next to it at night, ate my meals with it  throughout the day and generally dragged it along with me  at all times.

As I said, it was by far my most treasured toy.

One evening, my family and I went to the local  laundromat to do our laundry.  (This was well before we  got our enough washing machine!)  I, of course, brought  my stuffed starfish with me.  As my parents washed 
clothes, I played quietly...

...Well, maybe not quietly.  

Ok, Ok, I was yelling and jumping and running wild with  youthful energy! ;-)  There, that's more like it.

Anyway, I was playing with my stuffed starfish and I  believe it was when my mom bought me a soda and a bag  of peanuts that things went bad.  Somehow, I got  distracted from my stuffed starfish and laid it aside.  
Shortly afterward, my parents finished the laundry and  we packed up, loaded our car and left.

It wasn't very long before I realized my most grievous  mistake...

...I had left my stuffed starfish back at the laundry!

We quickly backtracked to the laundry and as we pulled  into the parking lot, I saw, through the window, I saw  another child playing with MY stuffed starfish!  Why, of all  the nerve.  How dare you, I wanted to call out.  Doesn't he  know that's MY stuffed starfish.

I was about to jump out of the car and get my starfish  from the other little boy when my parents did something  that I didn't understand for a very long time...

...they told me to let the other little boy keep my stuffed  starfish.

What?!!  That's MY stuffed starfish and I'm going to  march right in there and tell that kid a couple of things.   Who does he think he is playing with my stuffed starfish?...

...but my parents won out and my bright red stuffed  starfish found a new home that evening.

I cried and cried that night.  

And the next day.

And for days after that.

I just couldn't understand why I had to let someone else  have what was most precious to me.

It wasn't until recently that I really grasped what  happened that evening when I, albeit unwillingly, gave up  my stuffed starfish for someone else.

I was reading in the Bible and I read about God and  what He regarded as most precious, His Son, Jesus.  In  reading I found out that they were inseparable.  God loved  His Son and they were always together.  (And when I say  "Always", I mean ALWAYS...as in forever in eternity past!)

I began to see that God loved His Son in the way that I  had loved my stuffed starfish.  Of course, God's love was  deeper and purer, but it kind of gave me something to  relate to.  I thought to myself, "That's really neat.  I kind of  know how He feels."

But, then, as I read further into the Bible, I noticed  something kind of odd.  I noticed that God and His Son  walked up the hill to a laundromat called Calvary.  A  laundromat?  Yeah, a laundromat.  After all, it's where stains get removed.

So, God and Jesus walk up the hill to a landromat  called Calvary.  And when they get there, God leaves.   And Jesus, His most precious Son, is nailed to the cross.

Now, here's where things began to get my attention.   God, looking through the window of Heaven, saw what  was going on.  He saw soldiers spitting on His most  precious Son and His heart must have wanted to cry out,  "How dare you!  That's MY Son down there."  

As He looked on, He saw His most precious Son  crowned with thorns and mocked and beaten.  How  difficult it must have been to hold back His pain.  He surely  wanted to rush into the laundromat and grab His Son from  their hands and yell out, "He's mine.  Who do you think  you are, treating Him like this?!"

With the crowd screaming, "Crucify Him, Crucify Him,"  and the jeers and taunts of the soldiers and His Son  writhing in pain and anguish, God must have wanted to  rush to take His Son back again.

But, He didn't.  And here's why.

God knew what I only found out recently about my  stuffed starfish...

...sometimes, we have to give up what is most precious to us, because others need it more.

You see, God ached and hurt as He watched His Son  sacrificed on that cross.  And yet, He stood silently by  because He knew that you and I had a far greater need.  A  need so great that the ONLY way to meet it was to allow  His Son, that which was most precious to Him, to die as a  sacrifice for our sins.

My friend, when was the last time you gave up  something for Him?  When was the last time you made a  sacrifice of your life to the Lord Jesus?  Have you poured  out yourself in service lately, given of your time and talent  to minister to someone in need?

Maybe it's about time today to get involved in the life of  someone the Lord has laid on your heart.  Maybe it's time  to...

Have a "Wonderful DAY in Christ,"
Jimmy D. Brown
\o/ Praise Jesus!