In 1980 my home church gave me a book called Leaves of Gold. The book is a collection of inspirational sayings gathered from authors across many centuries. It seems that the book is still obtainable, and depending on the condition and age of revision, can be worth a fair sum of money. My personal copy of the book, hard back with a beautiful rope binding for the cover, is in extremely good condition. Sadly, that is due to the fact that it has been safely preserved on my bookshelf, seldom touched by human hands.
When I recently undertook a purging of my bookshelves, the “gold leaves” found their way into my hands. In a moment of what I consider divine prompting, I began to peruse the pages. Doing so, I was moved in spirit as to the nature of the gift. My fellow believers, particularly those of generations before me, wanted to share with me wisdom that could influence my life for decades to come. Of course, there were other ways my church was striving for the same goal. What we think of as typical ministries of a church—worship, Sunday school, and things like that—are all ways a church tries to “train up a child in the way they should go” (Proverbs 22:6). Holding that copy of Leaves of Gold brought to me a deep sense of appreciation for people, most of whom are now “singing from the balcony,” who wanted my life to be lived under the influence of wise Christian counsel.
In my opinion, the best thing you can do with a gift is use it. The best time for me to have used Leaves of Gold would have been 45 years ago. The second best time is now. As I believe the Lord has prompted, this will be my writing exercise during the season of Lent. I will select 40 entries that stand to represent the different topics in the book, sharing the quote and following it with a short reflection. If you are willing, it would bless my heart for you to journey with me. You are encouraged to respond to the entries. Let me know if a thought has been meaningful for you, or if you have been blessed by a similar word of wisdom. Let’s see if the Lord will do a work in us together.
I will end this post by sharing the scripture verse found on the title page of the book. It has become one that I reference frequently, as I believe it is a powerfully wise word to anyone seeking to live a life that honors God. It is a word from Paul’s letter to the Philippian believers, chapter 4, verse 8.
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
May our minds be set on such things today. See you along the Winding Path.
The Winding Path 