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Do not withhold good from those who deserve it, when it is in your power to act.  Proverbs 3:27 

 

Charles Plumb was a Navy pilot in Vietnam. After 75 missions his plane was destroyed and he parachuted into enemy territory. He survived 6 years in a communist prison. Now he lectures on his experiences. One day, a man came up to him and said, “You're Plumb! You flew jet fighters from the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk. You were shot down!” Plumb replied, “How in the world did you know that?” Smiling, the man said, “I packed your parachute. I guess it worked!” That night Plumb couldn't sleep. He said, “I kept wondering what that man might have looked like in uniform. How many times I'd walked past him without speaking, because I was a fighter pilot and he was just a sailor. I thought of the hours he'd spent in the bowels of the ship, carefully weaving the shrouds and folding the silks of each parachute, holding in his hands the fate of someone he didn't even know.”

 

So, who packed your parachute? Who helped you to get to where you are? Put their all on the line for you? Paul looks back and recalls people most of us have never heard of - like Priscilla and Aquila, “...who for my sake risked their necks” (Romans 16:4 NAS). There are no ‘self-made' people. The higher you go the more dependent you become on others. George Matthew Adams says, “Everyone who has ever done a kind deed or spoken a word of encouragement...has entered into the make-up of our character...our thoughts...our success.” So, who packed your parachute? Be sure to show your appreciation!

 

 

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