I find little surprises in my purse every now and then. Sometimes they're good surprises. Like a chocolate kiss you forgot about. Never mind that it lost its foil long ago. You just pick off the fuzz and pop that baby. That's high fiber chocolate!

Of course, there are surprises in there that aren't so good, too. One time I found a spider. A live spider. Imagine my surprise. Move over, Miss Muffet. I now know I can rocket off my tuffet like nobody's business.

Imagine the surprise of the people around me as I let out a blood-curdling scream and sent the purse flying across the room. I think the spider was sincerely surprised, too.

In contrast, there is something that surprises people that just shouldn't. Jesus said, "You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.'" (John 3:7, NIV). But people are surprised all the time that there's one way to heaven. Being born again through Jesus. That's it.

To me, it's a sweet thought. Heaven through Jesus. That really is sweeter than chocolate--even chocolate without fuzz.

Rhonda Rhea rrhea@juno.com