By Gobel Brockman
Several years ago I was channel surfing (one of my favorite forms of exercise) and came upon a preacher telling this story:
I want to take you inside Miss Jones's 6th grade classroom. It's the last day before Christmas break, and they're having their Christmas party. All of the kids are dressed well and look fine - except Teddy. Teddy's hair is unkempt, his clothes are wrinkled and dirty, and he doesn't smell very good. His eyes are distant and empty. Miss Jones didn't work with Teddy much; she figured he was a lost cause, and her time could be better spent with the other children. Her demeanor towards him was almost callous, which was strange since she knew his story: his mother had recently died, and his father was an alcoholic who showed no interest in Teddy's life whatsoever.
As the class party went on Miss Jones was opening the presents her kids had brought, and she opened her poorly-wrapped present from Teddy. It contained two items - a rhinestone bracelet with a few stones missing, and a half-empty bottle of perfume. The other kids laughed. Miss Jones wasn't completely heartless; she put on the bracelet and dabbed a bit of perfume on and thanked him. He was the last one to leave class that day, and he said to hear, "I'm glad you like the perfume and bracelet. You look and smell just like my mom used to. Merry Christmas, Miss Jones." After Teddy left, with tears running down her cheeks she got down on her knees and asked God to forgive her for the way she had treated Teddy - and all the kids like him she'd had in the past. She recommitted her life to Christ and asked Him to change her heart.
When the kids returned from Christmas break they had a new teacher. It was still Miss Jones, but she was a new teacher. She was committed to showing the love of God to her students - especially Teddy. She spent the rest of that year doing everything she could to make Teddy the best student he could be. She poured her heart into him, and for the first time in his young life he knew what hope felt like.
Six years later Miss Jones got a letter from Teddy:
Dear Miss Jones:
I'm graduating high school in a few weeks, and they just told me I'm Salutatorian. I wanted you to be the first to know.
Four years later she received another letter:
Dear Miss Jones:
I'm graduating college soon, and they're saying I have the highest G.P.A. in the class. I wanted you to be the first to know.
Four years later, another letter:
Dear Miss Jones:
From now on when I sign my name, I get to put "M.D." at the end of it. I'm a doctor now - what do you think of that? Also, I'm going to be married in a few weeks, and if you can, I'd like you to come and sit in the place my mother would have sat. My Dad passed away a couple of years ago and you're the closest thing to family that I have."
Perhaps you're Teddy. You feel like you have no future and no hope. I want you to know that's a lie. God made you and He can still do something amazing with your life. I don't know where you are in life right now, but I do know that by the power of God's Spirit you don't have to stay there.
Perhaps you're Miss Jones. God wants to use you to be an instrument of change in someone's life if you will let Him change you. Remember, in your own way you were a mess once too.
I have no interest in simply telling you a "feel-good" story that warms the heart and does nothing else. I'm talking about change. Miss Jones changed, and because of that so did Teddy's life. My purpose is to tell you that the final chapter of your life hasn't been written yet, and if you'll surrender every part of your life to Jesus in repentance and submission, the rest of your story can be a pretty incredible journey.
I don't want to give a motivational speech - I want to tell you that Jesus can change your life.
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