Following After Love
Great Thoughts
1 Corinthians 14:1-24
Follow after charity, and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that you may prophesy.…


You could see Gerald had been running fast a long way, for as he came up the garden path to his mother his face was very red and his hair quite damp with the perspiration on his forehead. "What have you been doing, my little boy?" his mother asked him. "Oh, mother," he said, almost ready to cry, "I have been running after the rainbow, trying to catch it, but when I got to the top of the hill it was just as far away as before," and the little boy threw himself down with a sob at his mother's feet. "Poor little fellow," she said, tenderly, patting his head, "mother is sorry for you." She really was sorry, so she said, "Gerald, dear, if you can wait to-day and to-morrow, on the next morning when you wake up you will see a rainbow that you can catch." "Really, mother; shall I really see one and catch it?" and the boy looked up with a happy and eager face. "Yes, dear; and what is more, you can go on catching and keeping it day by day all through your life." With this Gerald was obliged to be content for the present, although he was very impatient until the happy morning arrived. He woke early, and eagerly gazed round the room, and over the mantelpiece saw a lovely rainbow. It was a beautiful, large kind of text in a great number of bright and lovely colours. He jumped out of bed and stood close under it with his hands folded. On the sky-blue colour was printed in letters of lovely dark blue, Patience. On the red, in letters of white, was Love. On the black, in silver letters, was Peace. On the cream was Kindliness, in letters of gold. Gentleness was printed in prettiest pink, the word on cardinal, and Charity was blended in all the colours on white. While Gerald was standing admiring with delight, his mother came quietly in. "Well, dear," she said, smiling, "how do you like your rainbow?" "Oh, I like it so much, mother; and is it my very own? but what do you mean by catching it, mother? .... Well, suppose you begin to-day, and let the first thing you try to catch and keep be Love." "Oh, I see now," said the little boy, and the thought sank into his heart, so that he really tried to be as loving as he could to his little playfellows and to everybody. And every morning he looked up to his rainbow to see what he would try and catch that day, and then he knelt to ask God to help him. So little Gerald grew up to be a splendid man, and the rainbow still shines over his mantelpiece as one of his greatest treasures.

(Great Thoughts.)



Parallel Verses
KJV: Follow after charity, and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy.

WEB: Follow after love, and earnestly desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy.




Edification, Exhortation and Comfort
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