Don’t Take My Marble
IllustrationStory★★★★One night, that famed preacher, Dwight L. Moody, was preaching in the great city of Chicago. A mother came up after the meeting with her little boy, who was eight years old.
She wanted the lad to meet Dwight Moody and knew this might be his only opportunity. She said, “Son, shake Mr. Moody’s hand.” The boy went like this to Dwight Moody [shaking his fist].
The mother was embarrassed, but the mother said to shake his hand. But the little boy took his fist and put it behind his back.
The mother grabbed that fist, unraveled the boy’s fingers, and in the middle of his hand was his favorite cat’s-eye marble that he had been playing with during the sermon. He thought that his mama was going to make him give his marble to Dwight Moody. He didn’t want to shake Moody’s hand, because he thought he was going to lose his marble. Are you afraid that you’re going to lose your precious marble tonight....afraid that you’ve got to give up that alcohol, got to give up that tobacco.....are you afraid that you’ve got to give up that illicit relationship?
Are you afraid that there is something in your life that Jesus is going to take away? When Christ comes, it’s not going to make any difference then, friend.
When Christ comes, all the cars and houses in the world aren’t going to make any difference. When Christ comes, the job or the bank account are not going to make any difference.
When Christ comes, the titles or the positions are not going to make any difference. When Christ comes, the only thing that’s going to make a difference is knowing Him and being ready for His coming.
The point
A boy at a Dwight Moody sermon hides his favorite marble in his fist, fearing Moody will take it if they shake hands. The sermon illustrates our fear of losing earthly possessions when giving ourselves to Christ, yet at His coming nothing earthly will matter—only knowing Him will count.