A blind boy sat on the steps of a building with a hat by his feet. He held up a sign which said: “I am blind, please help.”

There were only a few coins in the hat. A man was walking by. He took a few coins from his pocket and dropped them into the hat. He then took the sign, turned it around, and wrote some words. He put the sign back so that everyone who walked by would see the new words.

Soon the hat began to fill up. A lot more people were giving money to the blind boy.

That afternoon the man who had changed the sign came to see how things were doing. The boy recognized his voice and asked, “Were you the one who changed my sign this morning?” and continued, “What did you write?’

The man said, “I only wrote the truth. I said what you said but in a different way.”

What he had written was: “Today is a beautiful day and I cannot see it.”

Do you think the first sign and the second sign were saying the same thing? Of course both signs told people the boy was blind. But the first sign simply said the boy was blind. The second sign told people they were so lucky that they were not blind. Should we be surprised that the second sign was more effective?

Moral of the Story: Be thankful for what you have. Be creative. Be innovative. Think differently and positively. When life gives you a hundred reasons to cry, show life that you have a thousand reasons to smile.²

Note: Keep in mind that it is one thing to tell people about Jesus, but a totally different thing to show people Jesus. May we always show before we tell.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me always to be sensitive to others’ needs, and help me to be ‘as Jesus’ in some way to every life I touch, so that I will ‘show or reflect you’, and may this open the opportunity to then tell people about you. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name. Amen.”

1. 2 Corinthians 3:18 (NIV).

2. Author Unknown. Submitted by Patricia Brown.