Memory of a Duck

I was reminded of an illustration in C.H. Spurgeon's Lectures to My Students and enjoyed leafing through a few chapters trying to find what I was looking for.  The Complete and Unabridged version is a brilliant compilation of lectures Spurgeon gave to students at seminary that contain great wisdom, insight, instruction--and even a bit of humour.  Jesus used illustrations and parables in His teaching, and it follows as led by the Holy Spirit we can employ them wisely in our discourses.  One anecdote stood out from the pages I glanced over and reminded me of the importance of including illustrations to shed light on the subjects of our sermons.  Here is an excerpt from the chapter "Uses of Anecdotes and Illustrations:"

"What do you remember best in the discourses you heard years ago?  I will venture to say that it is some anecdote that the preacher related.  It may possibly be some pithy sentence; but it is more probable that it is some striking story which was told in the course of the sermon.  Rowland Hill, a little while before he died, was visiting an old friend, who said to him, "Mr. Hill, it is now sixty-five years since I first heard you preach; but I remember your text, and a part of your sermon."  "Well," asked the preacher, "what part of the sermon do you recollect?"  His friend answered, "You said that some people, when they went to hear a sermon, were very squeamish about the delivery of the preacher.  Then you said, 'Supposing you went to hear the will of one of your relatives read, and you were expecting a legacy from him; you would hardly think of criticizing the manner in which the lawyer read the will; but you would be all attention to hear whether anything was left to you, and if so, how much; and that is the way to hear the gospel.'"  Now, the man would not have recollected that for sixty-five years if Mr. Hill had not put the matter in that illustrative form.  If he had said, "Dear friends, you must listen to the gospel for its own sake, and not merely for the charms of the preacher's oratory, or those delightful soaring periods which gratify your ears," if he had put it in the very pretty manner in which some people can do the thing, I will be bound to say that the man would have remembered it as long as a duck recollects the last time it went into the water, and no longer; for it would have been so common to have spoken in that way; but putting the truth in the striking manner that he did, it was remember for sixty-five years."  (Spurgeon, C. H. Lectures to My Students: Complete & Unabridged. Ministry Resources Library, Zondervan Publishing House, 1989. pages 391-392)

A duck might not remember the last time it went into the water, but praise the LORD He is able to speak to our hearts in ways we can understand and be positively impacted by.  It is not by creativity, nor by forceful argument, but by God's Spirit minds are changed and hearts can be transformed by God's grace.  The LORD might even use a simple illustration to drive home His point we will always remember.