The Chester County Sheriff’s department runs a program to take kids hunting and fishing as a reward for good behavior. The program is meant to keep kids out of trouble by getting them interested in the outdoors. When 9-year-old, Alex Collins, learned on Facebook about a contest to get selected for the program, he was ecstatic…he had never been hunting, he had no one to take him, and he desperately wanted to go.
So Alex wrote a letter asking to be chosen, and his mother went to the sheriff’s office to deliver it. But when she arrived, the Sheriff’s office said there wasn’t a contest. The problem? It was the wrong Chester County Sheriff’s department! You see, the information Alex had seen on Facebook was for Chester County, South Carolina, not Pennsylvania where Alex lives. Alex was heartbroken!
It turns out, though, that the two Chester County Sheriffs are friends who met at a conference last year. They got on the phone, and made Alex’s dream come true. Donations poured in from all over the country, the Pennsylvania Sheriff’s Department chipped in to get Alex to SC, and the South Carolina Sheriff’s department chipped in to get him his gear and take him hunting. And, as of yesterday, the news reports that Alex is having a great time!
Now, there is no confusing the two Sheriffs on the outside. One is a self-described, short, white, female, “Yankee,” while the other is a tall, black, male, Southerner! But on the inside, they both had a heart to make things right for Alex. So a heartbreaking misunderstanding turned into an “Awesome” day!
Usually misunderstandings don’t work out very well. People misread signs and instructions every day. Consequences range from minor inconvenience to major damage. And sometimes misunderstandings lead to spiritual destruction.
In the Garden of Eden, Adam & Eve were harmed by mistaking bad advice for good. In Jeremiah 23, many people misread the signs and thought peace was coming, an error which led to their destruction. In Mark 12:24, Jesus told the Sadducees that they were in grave error about the resurrection because they had misread scripture.
Thankfully, for those who hear His voice today, there is still time. God made arrangements to overcome all our bad decisions and misunderstandings of the past if we will just accept the gospel of Christ today. He has paid for our trip to Heaven with the blood of Jesus because He has a heart to make things right. There is so much misleading information out there; don’t be fooled! Look to the Word of God today!
“…we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who examines our hearts” (1 Thessalonians 2:4).
