Some time ago I was visiting the home of a couple where the husband had just come home from a short stay in the hospital. The reason for his hospital stay was a rather serious one and it would leave some life long effects on both the man and his wife. I had visited the husband several times and was well pleased to see that although the situation he faced was serious, his attitude towards the entire experience was a good one. I should mention here that he and his wife were strong Christians and I greatly attribute his good attitude to that.
While the wife and I were visiting the couple after his return home, I happened to notice a plaque on the wall which read:
Ten Rules for Happier Living
- Give something away (no strings attached).
- Do a kindness (and forget it).
- Spend a few minutes with the aged (their experience can be priceless guidance).
- Look intently into the face of a baby (and marvel).
- Laugh often (it is life's lubricant).
- Give thanks (a thousand times a day is not enough).
- Pray (or you will lose the way).
- Work (with vim and vigor).
- Plan as though you will live forever (because you will).
- Live as though you will die tomorrow (because you will die on some tomorrow).
One can’t say that the plaque was what one might call very religious from an outward appearance but it caught my attention and I snapped a picture of it. Upon asking the couple about the plaque, the man simply told me that it had been his parents and what it said formed the basis on how he had been raised as a child. He went on to tell us that where he had been born and raised, many folks in his community had an identical plaque hanging in their homes also. He didn’t really know where those plaques originated but that old plaque was very dear to them. Like himself, the couple had raised their family based upon the words of that plaque.
We all have a set of rules we live our lives by. Our set of rules are developed by one of two things. Our rules of life are either formed by the events and circumstances of our lives or by a set of rules laid down thousands of years ago in God’s Word.
The man and wife may not have know the physical origins of the plaque but they knew very well from where the meaning of the words on the plaque originated. Having this understanding is why the plaque held such importance in their lives.
“For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” Jer. 31:33
This world would be a far better place if every family had one of these plaques hanging on a wall in their homes and followed its words and meaning.
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