Keep On Swinging
KEEP ON SWINGING
Read Proverbs 14:23-27.
As soon as he got home from school, Kevin went to his room and got out pencils, paints, and poster paper. Kevin wanted to win the library’s art contest. So every afternoon that week he hurried home to work on his poster.
By Friday the poster was finished, and Dad drove him to the library. Kevin’s heart beat heavily as he waited for the judges’ decision. He watched while one of them put a third-prize ribbon on one of the posters. It wasn’t Kevin’s. The second-prize ribbon went on another poster, but it wasn’t his either. Finally one of the judges picked up the first-prize ribbon, walked over to a poster, and attached it. Tears boiled up in Kevin’s eyes. He had not won a prize.
When Mom came home later she asked, “How did the poster contest go, Kevin?”
“Terrible! I’m never going to enter a contest again,” Kevin said.
Mom said, “Did you know that Babe Ruth, the famous ballplayer, struck out many times?”
“But I thought he was so good,” said Kevin.
“He was,” Mom replied. “He was the first player to hit sixty home runs in a season. But he was a good player because he kept swinging that bat when others would have given up.”
“I guess you’re telling me I shouldn’t give up in art,” sighed Kevin.
Mom smiled. “You enjoy art and you do have talent. Besides, God blesses hard work. Even if you never win a prize, you’ll become a better artist if you keep practicing.”
Kevin hesitated. “The missions committee at church is having an art contest. I think I’ll take a ‘swing’ at that.”
HOW ABOUT YOU?
Do you keep trying even though you’re discouraged? If God has given you an interest in something, and a talent for it, keep on trying even if you’re not the best in it yet. Ask God to bless your efforts.
TO MEMORIZE:
Work brings profit, but mere talk leads to poverty!
Proverbs 14:23
KEEP TRYING.
From the book
