Moments Together for Couples 1/27

by Dennis and Barbara Rainey

Proverbs 22:1
A good name is to be more desired than great riches.

Are you trusted by your mate, by your friends and by your children? Are you reliable? Do you fulfill your promises to your children?

My dad, "Hook" Rainey, was a man whose quiet, soft-spoken faith and rock-solid integrity won him a good name in our rural community nestled in the Ozark Mountains of southern Missouri. I learned about that reputation forcefully one year during high school when I began selling magazine subscriptions to raise money for our senior project.

Without delay I made several sales to my numerous aunts and uncles. However, my pace slowed considerably when I began soliciting subscriptions door-to-door. I was discouraged and about to head for home when I tried one more home. I was hurriedly rattling off my canned sales pitch when the old man interrupted me: "Son, what did you say your name was?"

"Dennis Rainey, sir."

"Are you Hook Rainey's son?" he asked with a slight grin.

The old man's etched face immediately brightened when I answered, "Why, yes-he's my dad."

"Well, come on in!" he beamed as he unhooked the screen door and swung it open. He proceeded to buy two magazine subscriptions.

I was no fool, so from then on I always let people know at the outset that I was Hook Rainey's son. I eventually set a record for sales!

For many years afterwards I thought Dennis Rainey had won that magazine sales contest. It wasn't until Dad's death that I realized what had really happened. It was Hook Rainey's character that had given me the victory. Without knowing it, my dad had followed Charles Spurgeon's wise counsel: "Carve your name on the hearts, and not on marble."

Prayer:

That the presence of God's Spirit in your life will be so real you would never think of acting with anything but spiritual integrity.

Discuss: What does the word integrity mean to you? Are you a man of your word?

Would you like your own copy of this devotional?