William and his family were new in town. They lived on the outskirts of town. Although William’s family was not wealthy, they had a modest house and a small farm that was sufficient to supply their needs. William’s family also were faithful in their worship of the Lord.
Every Sabbath, they gathered in the family living room to have worship services together. There was no church in this town that had worship services on Sabbath. It was not easy for the children, but they understood the importance of keeping all of God’s commandments, including the 4th, “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.” They missed their young church friends from the previous town in which they had lived. There was a large and lively church with a large group of youth. William’s father, though, felt called by the Lord to go to a new town and do volunteer missionary work and start a new church by introducing the people to the importance of the Sabbath as a part of the Ten Commandments.
Going to school at first was not easy. The children had no friends, and on weekends the children often went out on Sabbath to spend time together, while William and his siblings stayed at home to worship God. Then on Sunday, many of the young people went to their churches in the morning and spent much of the day within their own church group. But the children never complained. They had been taught to love the Lord and put Him first in their lives. They read and studied their Bibles and shared their father’s missionary zeal, hoping to begin a small church there.
William was the oldest son and he had three younger siblings. William was in high school and he was a good student. On the other side of town lived some of the more wealthy and popular boys. Jackson was one of them. He seemed to be the leader of a group of the wealthy boys. He was outspoken, bold, and also a very bright student. He aspired to go to the big city and attend university after high school. There was one university that offered scholarships to the brightest student in the school and Jackson was determined to obtain this scholarship. The university awarded the scholarship on the recommendation of the high school. The scholarship was awarded, not based solely on the academic record of the student, but also on their behaviour and conduct within the school and within the community. They had to be helpful in the school, and also do some community volunteer work. Although his parents could afford to send him to the university, Jackson wanted it because of the prestige and honour. A plaque would be hung in the hallway with his picture on it. William, on the other hand, had a family that could never dream of affording to send him to university. The thought of the scholarship was enticing to him, but he prayed about it and left it in God’s hands.
As the final year of high school was progressing, Jackson was seen helping the younger students at school with their studies and assignments. He helped the teachers after school to tidy up their classrooms and made an effort to talk to each of his teachers and tell them of his dreams and aspirations for the future.
In the community, Jackson was seen cutting the front lawn of the Mayor’s house. He cleaned the streets in front of the city hall and the main thoroughfares in the city. He washed the car of the school principal and helped the local librarian to organize her books. He kept himself very busy, but always in a work where he could be seen and noticed by the most important people in town—the ones who would decide who would be awarded the scholarship. He wanted them to take notice of the volunteer work that he was doing, and he did it with a smile.
Outside of the public eye, though, Jackson was a different person. Although his family attended church on Sundays, the religion of Christ had not sunk deep into his heart. He ignored the poor and suffering on the other side of town. That would not help his cause. He loved to tease the younger boys and had become quite a bully. His close friends were with him and they had become quite a gang that some of the younger boys feared to cross. But Jackson was very careful to be polite and kind to those who could support his desire to obtain the scholarship. He just could not help himself at times. It seemed his nature just loved to laugh at the misfortunes of others.
One of his favourite targets was William. The new boy, the poor boy, the one who never went out with them and did fun things on Saturdays. He just stayed at home and worshipped with his family on Saturdays with this strange new religion. While his clothing was plain and tidy, his boots seemed awkwardly too large for him.
William did not let the taunts of Jackson and his friends bother him. He had learned to be meek like Jesus, amidst the continual harassment that he received from Jackson and his friends. William just repeated the words of Jesus to himself, “If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you,” (John 15:19), and smiled back at Jackson. It never happened at school, though, as Jackson wanted to appear as the model student. It was always in the evenings. William did not have time to help out after school with the teachers and younger students. He needed to be at home to help out with the farm. He also had other duties that he was attending to in his part of town—far away from the public eye. He would have liked the scholarship, but he knew that his duties to his family and to his God were of more importance, and if God wanted him to have it, He would find a way.
Every morning William was seen driving a cow to pasture, and in the evenings he would bring the cow back. After seeing this many times, one day Jackson said to him, “I suppose your father intends to make you a milkman one day.”
“Why not?” asked William politely.
“O, nothing! Just don’t leave much water in the cans after you rinse them out, that’s all.” The other boys laughed, but William did not seem the least bit bothered. “And try not to trip with those ill-fitting boots you are wearing.” The other boys laughed along with Jackson.
“Not to worry. If ever I am a milkman, I will give you good milk that has not been watered down.” He stated as he continued driving his cow with a smile on his face and a prayer to God.
Soon enough the school year came to an end, and it came time for the graduation ceremony and the university to award the scholarship. It was quite a ceremony and all the students and parents were in attendance. Many awards were given out. It was found that the two top students academically were Jackson and William, so the scholarship would be decided on their school support and community service. Jackson was sure it would be given to him because he had been so helpful around the school and in the community. He was sure that the prominent members of the community would give him a recommendation. While all William did was drive that cow to pasture in the morning and evenings. He was never seen at school after hours and never seen doing community service.
The principal arose to make his speech and to give the award. As his custom was, he shared the many ways in which the winner was helpful and a good asset to society by his charitable work.
He began by telling a story. “About half a year ago, some boys were flying a kite in the street, just as a poor boy on horseback rode by on his way to the mill. The horse spooked and threw the boy off, injuring him so badly that he was carried home, and confined to his bed for several months, as he had broken several bones and had many bruises.” Jackson blushed as the principal spoke. He remembered that it was he and his friends who had been flying that kite. He hoped that the principal had not known who the boys were.
The principal continued, “The boys who caused the accident had run home and had never taken the initiative to find out who the boy was that was injured, how badly he was injured, or how they could help the boy and
his family. There was one boy, however, who had not been part of the incident, but had witnessed the scene from the distance. He not only went to see the boy’s family and see how badly he was hurt, and if the family needed any help.
“This boy soon learned that the injured boy was the grandson of a poor widow, whose sole support consisted in selling the milk of the cow she owned. She was old and lame herself and her grandson, whom she depended on to drive her cow to the pasture, was now helpless with broken bones and bruises. ‘Don’t worry,’ said the friendly boy, ‘I will drive the cow for you every day before and after school.’
“But his kindness did not stop there. Money was needed for medicine. ‘I have money here that my mother sent me to buy boots with,’ he said, ‘but I can do without them for awhile.’ ‘O, no’ said the old woman. ‘I can’t agree to that; but here is a pair of heavy boots that I bought for Thomas, who can’t wear them now for awhile. I will sell them to you for your money.’ The boy bought the boots, clumsy as they were, and has worn them up until this time.
“And also, Tomas could not attend school, so this boy brought him school work from his teacher every day and patiently helped him with his studies in the evening.
“When it was discovered by the other boys that our student was in the habit of driving a cow, he was ridiculed and laughed at by them. His clumsy boots in particular they liked to make fun of. But he kept on cheerfully and bravely, day after day, quietly driving the cow and wearing those boots. He never explained why he drove the cow because he did not want to boast about his charitable duties. It was by mere accident that his kindness and self-denial were discovered by his teacher.”
By this time, Jackson felt like running away and hiding. He was mortified.
“And now, ladies and gentleman, I ask you, did this young man not show the true spirit of self-denying service to the community and the school?” William was a little embarrassed and wanted to hide, but the principal called him forward, “William, you were not afraid of ridicule, I ask that you not be afraid of the honour that you deserve. Please come forward. We know that you are new in town and you brought a different religion, but it seems that the religion that your family teaches and practices will produce good citizens in this community, that some of the other boys can learn from. We welcome you. The town’s people have all agreed that you deserve the scholarship. We know you will study hard and go far.”
William was not expecting this, but he went home and thanked God for His leading. He aspired to become a medical doctor so that he could one day become a medical missionary. Jackson also attended the same university since his parents could afford it. Soon after, Jackson and William became good friends as William had forgiven him, and it was not long before the two of them were worshipping together on the Sabbath and had started a youth Bible Study group on campus.
“Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.” Matthew 6:1-4
Just do your work quietly, and the Lord will reward you in His time. God sees it all and it is all written down. We do not need the praise of men, just the acceptance of God. “A book of remembrance was written before Him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon His name.” Malachi 3:16