A Glass of Milk

One day, a poor boy who was selling from door to door to pay his way through school, found he had only one thin dime left, and he was hungry.

He decided he would ask for a meal at the next house.  However, he lost his nerve when a lovely young woman opened the door.  Instead of a meal, he asked for a drink of water!  She thought he looked hungry so brought him a large glass of milk.  He drank it so slowly, and then asked, “How much do I owe you?”

“You don’t owe me anything,” she replied.  “Mother has taught us never to accept pay for a kindness.”  He said, “Then I thank you from my heart.”

As Howard Kelly left that house, he not only felt stronger physically, but his faith in God and man was strong also.  He had been ready to give up and quit.

Many years later that same woman became critically ill.  The local doctors were baffled.  They finally sent her to the big city, where they called in specialists to study her rare disease.  Dr. Howard Kelly was called in for the consultation.  When he heard the name of the town she came from, a strange light filled his eyes.

Immediately he rose and went down the hall of the hospital to her room.  Dressed in his doctor’s gown, he went in to see her.  He recognized her at one.  He went back to the consultation room determined to do his best to save her life.  From that day, he gave special attention to her case.

After a long struggle, the battle was won.

Dr. Kelly requested the business office to pass the final bill to him for approval.  He looked at it, then wrote something on the edge, and the bill was sent to her room.  She feared to open it, for she was sure it would take the rest of her life to pay for it all.  Finally, she looked and something caught her attention on the side of the bill.  She read these words:

“Paid in full with one glass of milk.”
(Signed) Dr. Howard Kelly

Tears of joy flooded her eyes as her happy heart prayed:  “Thank you, God that Your love has spread broad through human hearts and hands.”

There’s a saying which goes something like this:  Bread cast on the water comes back to you (Ecclesiastes 11:1).  The good deed you do today may benefit you or someone you love at the least expected time.  If you never see the deed again at least you will you made the world a better place – and after all, isn’t that what life is all about?

~Author Unknown

Matthew 25:31-40 
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

 ”Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

 ”Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

 ”The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’

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