Heaven's Hidden Treasure

A pious shipbuilder in Holland by the name of Peter Jansen reasoned that the basic design for the ark as revealed by God to Noah should be an ideal blueprint for such vessels. So he built a smaller ship of the same proportions - six times as long as wide, and the height one-tenth of the length. Disregarding the ridicule heaped upon him in the course of the construction, like Noah himself, Jansen found that the completed ship could carry one-third more freight, would sail faster, and was safer than the old type ship. Today, with minimum variations, this design is used for almost all modern freighters.

Studying the word of God has opened up exciting vistas for archaeologists, historians, paleographers, linguists, geologists, and geographers, not to mention theologians. But even more significantly, by prayer, not just study, the word of God has enriched countless thousands of persons with awesome spiritual insights reserved for those who prayerfully learn to "read between the lines" of his great love letter, the Bible.

Countless nuggets of wisdom still remain to be quarried from the gold mine of God's inspired word by Spirit-sensitive persons. At each discovery, they exalt with the psalmist: "I rejoice in following your statutes as one rejoices in great riches,...like one who finds great spoil...The unfolding of your words...gives understaning to the simple" (Ps 119:14, 162, 130). Decide today not to neglect this fathomless treasure right at your fingertips.

This excerpt is from the book One-Minute Meditations for Busy People, by John H. Hampsch, C.M.F., originally published by Servant Publications. It and other of Fr. Hampsch's books and audio/video recordings can be purchased from Claretian Teaching Ministry, 20610 Manhattan Pl, #120, Torrance, CA 90501-1863. Phone 1-310-782-6408 or www.Catholicbooks.net