Think a minute…This is the true story of an Australian man named Jack Smythe. During the mid-1800’s Jack worked as a carpenter until he heard about the Gold Rush in the state of Victoria, southeastern Australia. Soon Jack left the tools of his trade and set out to find his own field of gold.
He worked long and hard, searching in streams and digging holes in hillsides, yet he found nothing. Finally, he was so tired and discouraged that he gave up. But Jack was too proud and embarrassed to go home with nothing, so he picked the most remote place he could find to settle down and simply live off the land.
Yambuk, Victoria was a small abandoned town built over an old empty gold mine. The Gold Rush had ended, both for Jack and this tiny town he now called home. Yambuk had no trees or wood, so the final shame of Jack Smythe’s failure was that he, a skilled carpenter, had to build his final home out of mud.
Tragically, Jack Smythe never knew that the land on which he staked his last claim was rich, fertile farmland. This was only discovered years later after Jack was gone. When his neighbor took over Jack’s land, he decided to tear down Jack’s mud house so he could plant crops there. As the mud bricks crumbled into dust, the neighbor noticed a shiny substance in it: gold! The clay that Jack had dug out of the old mine shaft was actually part of a huge gold deposit.
Suddenly, the empty little town of Yambuk came alive again. In fact, for years it became one of the most prosperous gold-mining areas in Victoria. But it was too late for Jack Smythe. Tragically and ironically, he had already died of starvation in a valley that could grow an abundance of food, and in a house that was worth its weight in gold!
You yourself may not have realized that the life you’ve always wanted is already here for you to fully live and enjoy. Before it’s too late, won’t you ask Jesus to forgive you for your wrong way of living, and to take charge of your heart? It’s then that you can start experiencing His life of true satisfaction, security, and success that is only found in Him. Just think a minute…