BOYS & GIRLS PAGE

by Mrs Seaton

"The Find"

Dear Boys and Girls,

An old man by the name of Simon once lived on a little farm where he worked very hard every day trying to make a living for himself.

One day when he was digging in his field, his spade suddenly struck against something hard in the ground, so he stopped digging, reached down, and began to clear away the earth with his hands. He soon pulled an old pot out of the ground, and with a disgusted grunt threw it to the one side. When he had finished his work for the day, he was just about to make his way back to his little cottage when he remembered the pot. “May as well take it with me,” he thought to himself; and so, with the pot dangling at the end of his finger, he made his way homeward.

After his evening meal, he took the old pot in his hand and began to scrape away the earth. Suddenly, he realised that there was something written on the pot, and he began to rub away the dirt as fast as he could. Again, however, he just gave another disgusted grunt and threw the pot in a corner of the room, for the words were written in a strange language that he could not understand. Old Simon was just about to settle down for a snooze in his chair when there was a knock at his door. It was the local school-teacher who had been passing and had decided to give his old friend a call.

As they sat talking, the school-teacher's eye fell on the old pot in the corner. “What's this?” he asked Simon. “Just an old pot,” said the old farmer, “it's got some writing on it, but I don't know what it means.” The teacher took the pot in his hand, and began to carefully remove the earth that had stuck in the grooves that the letters of the words made. “There,” he said finally, “now let's see what it says,” and he read out the two words that had been engraved on the pot. “Dig Deeper,” they said. “That's what you should have done, Simon,” said the teacher, “You should have dug deeper.” So next day, old Simon did just that. And what do you think, boys and girls? He soon discovered many valuable things that he was able to sell so that he never had to worry about a shortage of food and clothes again.

Some people you know, like old Simon, read a little bit of the Bible and then just throw it to the one side, because they can't be bothered taking the time or trouble to understand some of the things written there. But, boys and girls, you must always “dig deeper” – go on reading more, and more. And if you do, you too will discover something of great value. Not earthly treasure such as the old man discovered, but the treasure of knowing Jesus Christ as your Saviour. “Dig deeper,” then.