It was advertised that the devil was going to put his tools up for sale. On the date of the sale, the tools were placed for public inspection; each tool being marked with its sale price.
They were a treacherous lot of implements... Hatred, Envy, Jealousy, Deceit, Lying, Pride, and so on.
Laid apart from the rest was a harmless looking tool, that appeared to have been heavily used, and was priced very high.
"What is the name of this tool?" asked one of the purchasers, pointing to it. "That is Discouragement," replied the devil.
"Why have you priced it so high?"
"Because it is more useful to me than all the others. I can pry open and get inside people's hearts with that when I cannot get near them with my other tools. Once I get inside, I can make them do what I choose. It is badly worn because I use it on almost everyone, since very few people know that it belongs to me."
Addendum -- Luke 18:1 (GNB) "Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to teach them that they should always pray and never become discouraged." [ Luke 18:1-8 'The Parable of the Persistent Widow' ]
They were a treacherous lot of implements... Hatred, Envy, Jealousy, Deceit, Lying, Pride, and so on.
Laid apart from the rest was a harmless looking tool, that appeared to have been heavily used, and was priced very high.
"What is the name of this tool?" asked one of the purchasers, pointing to it. "That is Discouragement," replied the devil.
"Why have you priced it so high?"
"Because it is more useful to me than all the others. I can pry open and get inside people's hearts with that when I cannot get near them with my other tools. Once I get inside, I can make them do what I choose. It is badly worn because I use it on almost everyone, since very few people know that it belongs to me."
Addendum -- Luke 18:1 (GNB) "Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to teach them that they should always pray and never become discouraged." [ Luke 18:1-8 'The Parable of the Persistent Widow' ]
