Message of the Latter Rain - Kelvin M. Duncan

"Well, no. I have this bottle. It's a little more expensive, but worth it."
"I'll take it," said Mary. "Now, is this the very best ... that you have?"
"Well ... ," says the merchant. "I do have one more that's even better. It's
the best that money can buy--very expensive!"
"That's what I need!" exclaims Mary.
"Oh no," replies the shop-keeper. "You don't want this one. It will cost
you three hundred pence!" (That was the working wage of a man for an
entire year.)
"That's it. I'll take it!" says Mary. And with that, she paid the price and
departed for home.
By and by, she has a change of heart. "If I anoint His dead body, He will
never know how grateful I am," thought Mary. "He will never know how
much I appreciate His persistence and determination to deliver me from a
living hell. I know what I'll do," thought Mary. "I will anoint Him before His
death at a party or a feast. Then perhaps He will understand at least a little of
how much I really do appreciate what He has done for me."
Meanwhile, Uncle Simon is having a problem. Can you imagine him
waking in the middle of the night in a cold sweat? He has ruined a young
lady's life. By day, he is all smiles, as he jokes with his fellow Pharisees, but
he is harboring a terrible secret that is slowly tearing him apart. Eventually,
as is often the case, the stress imposed by his terrible guilt gets the better of
him, and Simon becomes very ill. He has leprosy, and the worst part is that
he feels that he is bearing the irrevocable curse of God. He believes it is very
likely that his sin is unpardonable.
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