'Verses and Vittles': Cutting toenails
By Ruby Hicks
Published in News on September 28, 2016 11:14 AM
"Do not judge so that you will not be judged." -- Matthew 7:1
When I married my husband in 1953, I inherited a job right away. It was cutting his toenails.
His mother cut them before me. I always thought to myself, why am I doing this, he is a grown man, surely he can cut his own toenails? I kept on doing it, though, because I really didn't mind. After we were married about 38 years or so, I found out why, because I fell and broke my left wrist and I am left-handed, so I could not cut them, so he decided he would cut them himself. What a mess. I have never seen anything like it. His toenails were gapped up, cut in the quick and just messed up something awful, so that is when I realized he really couldn't cut his toenails.
You know, that is the way we are sometimes, we judge people before we have all the facts. I know I do it at times and especially that time. God tells us, "Do not judge so that you will not be judged," Matthew 7:1. That is good advice because most of the time we don't know enough about people and we have no business judging them. We should leave the judging up to God because He knows all, and He will be fair. What a wonderful God He is. He does not want to send us to the bad place, but that is not altogether His choice, that is up to us. If we want to get into heaven, we have to live our lives like we are supposed to, accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior and live for Him. Be good to all people, and show God's love wherever we go.
Remember, God loves you whether you can cut your toenails or not.
Prayer: Lord, thank you for loving us even if we are not perfect. Thank you for all you do for us, and thank you for all of your blessings. Amen.
Thought for the day: Do the best you can, that is all that God wants.
Prayer focus: Husbands
Recipe: Canned peaches
8 lbs. of peaches
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups of water
Peel and slice peaches. Mix sugar and water and bring to a boil to make syrup. Drop peaches into boiling syrup and simmer for 5 minutes. Lift peaches out of syrup and put into jars. Pour the hot syrup into the jars. Put the lids on the jars and seal. Put jars into a pot of boiling water and boil for 20 minutes from the time the water starts to boil. Remove jars from water and let cool.
Ruby Hicks is the widow of James W. Hicks. The couple formerly pastored Rones Chapel and Bethel churches. Mrs. Hicks now lives in Goldsboro.