'It was the old smith

It was the old smith fighting the storm!

Men said that the old smith was foolishly over-careful as he wrought on the great chain he was making in his dingy shop in the heart of the great city. But he heeded not their words, and only wrought with greater painstaking. Link after link he fashioned, and at last the chain was finished and carried away.

In time it lay coiled on the deck of a great ship which sped back and forth on the ocean. There seemed no use for it, for the great sheet anchor was never needed, and the chain lay there uncoiled.

So years passed. But one night there was a terrible storm, and the ship was in sore peril of being hurled upon the rocks. Anchor after anchor was dropped into the wild sea, but none of them availed.

The chains were broken like threads. At last the mighty sheet anchor was cast into the sea until it grew taut. All watched to see if it would bear the awful strain. It sang in the wild storm, as the vessel's weight surged upon it.

It was a moment of intense anxiety. It was the old smith fighting the storm! The ship, with its cargo of a thousand lives, depended upon this one chain. What now if the old smith had wrought carelessly even on one link of his chain!

But he had put honesty and truth and invincible strength into every part of it, and it stood the test, holding the ship in safety until the storm was over, and the morning came!

"Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God!" 1 Corinthians 10:31

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