The story of the Sword of Wood teaches us how to live one day at a time with faith in our Higher Power. When we left out poor Jewish friend he was sitting at his table, contemplating how he was going to buy food and drink for the month while he awaited his wages for guarding the king’s palace.

As the poor man sat at his table he saw his new sword hanging in its sheath, and he had a clever idea. First, he made a sword of the same size and shape of wood, like the kind he had when he was a child, and put it in the sheath. Then he took the king’s sword and sold it. The money he got for it was enough to live on until the end of the month. After this he went to the market and bought food and drink for himself and his wife and returned home, a happy man.

What a surprise it was for the king that night, when he returned to the Jew’s house and found him sitting as usual, singing his happy songs in praise of God, as if he didn’t have a worry in the world.

The king asked him what he had done that day, and the man told him all that had happened

Then the king said:

“And what are you going to do if the king finds out about the sword?”

The man replied:

“I don’t worry about things that haven’t happened yet. I simply trust in God not to abandon me, and my confidence in him is strong.. Blessed be God, day by day.”

The next day, when the palace guards came to their posts the king ordered that they report to the city square, for there was to be an execution that day, and it was the custom for all the citizens to see the sentence carried out.

When everyone was gathered and the execution was about to take place, the king ordered that the Jew be called upon to cut off the head of the condemned man, who had stolen a melon from the palace garden.

Now when he heard this, the Jew became very afraid and said to the officer who had given him the order:

“Do not ask me to do this, for I have never even killed a fly!”

The officer said:

“It is an order of the king you must obey, and if you do not, it will cost you your life!”

When the Jew saw there was no escape, he asked to be given a few minutes to pray to God to give him courage, and then he would do as he was told.

The Jew stood up in front of the large crowd and prayed silently. After this he lifted his eyes to heaven and said in a loud voice:

“My Lord, you know me very well, and you know that I have never killed anyone in my whole life, and now I am commanded to do so by force. Please Lord, if this man in front of me is guilty, let me take my sword from its sheath and cut off his head with a single blow. But if he is not guilty, let my sword turn to wood as a sign of his innocence.”

By then all eyes were on the Jew. He reached into his sheath and pulled out his sword and held it up high. When everyone saw that it was wooden, the crowd gasped and then clapped and cheered, for they assumed a miracle had taken place.

The king was delighted when he saw the wisdom of the Jew, and he called him over and said:

“Do you recognize me?”

The Jew looked at the king closely and at last he said:

“You are my guest! It is you who has visited my home four times!”

And the king said:

“That’s right, and from now on you will be my guest, for I see you are a man of wisdom, whose confidence in God is strong and unwavering. I intend to make you my royal advisor.”

So it was that the Jew and his wife came to live in the palace where the Jew became the trusted advisor of the king. And all this came about because of his unshakable confidence in God. Blessed be his name, day by day.

Fear freezes you in your tracks. Faith in God allows you to live one day at a time, dealing with each day’s challenges confidently, because you know you have a Higher Power helping you.

The past is not your future when you live one day at a time with faith in your Higher Power.

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Next time: “Putting it all Together.”