“A certain man gave two people an ocarina. One put the ocarina on a shelf and it was never thought of again. The other learned what it was, its history, how it worked, and learned to play it well. He played it in private, and played it for others, and it brought joy to them and himself. Which man deserved the gift?”

The word “deserved” is used with a lot of thought here. So was ocarina. I hope you don’t know what an ocarina is and that you will look it up. I hope it will give the parable more meaning to you.

Webster’s dictionary defines “deserve” as: to be worthy of.

Are we worthy of the gifts God has given us? Do we act that way toward those gifts?

We’ve been given so much in this life – so many gifts: health, senses, scriptures, modern-day prophets and apostles, places of worship, family, friends, time, etc. Maybe you don’t have some of those gifts I’ve mentioned, but I know you have some. At the very least, if you’re reading this, you have time; you can see; you can think. What are you doing with these? Are you living worthy of these gifts? Are you utilizing them in such a way to show your gratitude for them? If you’re reading this I would assume you are – you’re trying to use your time and abilities to uplift your Spirit. I can only hope this post will do that for you, but good for you for searching.

This parable was a gut check for me. Do I deserve my kids? Do I deserve my wife? Do I live in such a way to show my gratitude for them?

I hope this will hit you the same way it did me.