:: To Worship Him ::

 

   “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives.  It straightens us out and teaches us to do what is right.”  (2 Timothy 3:16)

 

   Bill Bright told of an incident when a certain Christian leader told him of his sad tale.  ‘He had, as a young lad, been warned that God’s Word would keep him from sin, or, that sin would keep him for the Word of God.  Many years this man studied and obeyed God’s Word faithfully.  But, as the story goes, he became very busy and took less and less time for God’s Word.  So when temptations came, he had not strength to resist.’  In the end this man’s life and his marriage disintegrated and he was at the point of suicide when he met Bill. 

 

   This story is repeated on a regular basis unfortunately.  Tragic things happen when we get away from God’s Word.  We begin to forget that God’s Word is His message to us and it represents the mind of Christ.  It is God’s love letter to us, written in the Blood of God’s Son.  It is precious, alive and does wonders in us when we study, meditate and obey It.

 

   Mr. Bright also told of a young woman who once picked up a book to read but soon laid it down, finding it too dull and difficult to read.  Shortly afterward, she met a young man with whom she fell in love.  During the course of their courtship, she learned that he was actually the author of the book which she had found so boring.  Now she began to read the book again, and this time she read it from cover to cover with great interest and excitement!  One must ask: Why the renewed interest?  Because she knew and loved the author.    Same applies to us when we come to know and love the Author of the greatest book.  It then becomes alive and vital to us. 

 

 

  “Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; and quicken thou me in thy way.”  (Psalm 119:37)

 

   I read about a church that caught fire and everyone turned out to offer assistance.  Many members of the congregation were crushed by the loss of the building.  To many, the church had been a showplace, and they wondered whether the church could ever recover.  The pastor chastised those members, reminding them that a church is much more than the building that houses it.  Whether services took place in an assembly hall, under an oak tree or a borrowed sanctuary makes no difference.  The important thing was that people stuck together and worshipped as a church family around God’s Word.

 

   Dan Bernard put it well when he said that putting your face above a headless frame painted to represent a muscle man, a clown, or even a bathing beauty is sometimes a fun thing to do.  It is humorous because the head doesn’t fit the body.  If we could picture Christ as the head of our local body of believers, would the world laugh at the misfit?  Or would they stand in awe of a human body so closely related to a Divine Head?

 

   As the Church of Jesus Christ, we must never allow ourselves to lose sight of what is really important.  My son-in-law’s best friend was buried this week.  His infirmity was that terrible ALS, a slow and awful illness.  The church of believers that he was a part of was awesome.  They were ‘there’ for he and his family the entire time.  I’m sure they will continue support for his family he left behind.  Isn’t that what it’s all about: Helping one another as we continue in the work of the Lord, breaking bread and fellowshipping around the Table of the Lord?  That is what “Quicken Thou me in Thy Way” means to me; being ‘there’ for one another.

 

 

   “Beware lest anyone cheat you, through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.”  (Colossians 2:8)

 

   When architect Sir Christopher Wren designed the interior of Windsor Town Hall near London in 1689, he built a ceiling supported by pillars.  After city fathers had inspected the finished building, they decided the ceiling would not stay up and ordered Wren to put in some more pillars.  England’s greatest architect didn’t think the ceiling needed any more support, so he pulled a fast one.  He added four pillars that did not do anything - they don’t even reach the ceiling.  The optical illusion fooled the municipal authorities, and today the four sham pillars amuse many a tourist. 

 

   During one of his political campaigns, a delegation called on Theodore Roosevelt at his home in Oyster Bay, Long Island, N.Y.  The President met them with his coat off and his sleeves rolled up.  “Ah, gentlemen,” he said, “come down to the barn and we will talk while I do some work.”  At the barn, Roosevelt picked up a pitchfork and looked around for the hay.  Then he called out, “John, where’s all the hay?”  “Sorry, sir,” John called down from the hayloft.  “I ain’t have time to toss it back down again after you pitched it up while the Iowa folks were here.”

 

   Amazing what some people buy and sell these days.  But that’s not new either.  Paul told us to beware of what is on the market for sale.  Today we are in no less a danger.  Men and women throughout the world are being brainwashed by false doctrine.  We must even be on guard against what we might read from many so called “Christian” bookstores.  The store label doesn’t mean it’s for our Spiritual good.  Remember; the appearance doesn’t make it credible.  Instead of opening our Bibles and seeking the face of God alone to find out what He has to say about His Word, we run to man and sometimes run into even deeper error.  We must guard at all cost our spiritual hearts,  for from it comes life eternal.  The child’s song, “Be careful, little eyes and ears, what you see and hear!”  So true.

 

 

   The generous soul will be made rich, and he who waters will also be watered himself.  (Proverbs 11:25)

 

   Yes, I have found that it is hard to out-give God.  Not that I have necessarily tried, but I know that when I am generous in the things of God,  He always gives back abundantly.  In fact, He’s generous whether I am or not. 

 

   In a devotional I read by Greg Laurie, he remarked that when you begin talking about any of God’s qualities, by the time your conversation is over, you find yourself enjoying and appreciating those qualities even more.  You start telling people how wonderful Jesus is, and by the time you are finished, you are in awe of Him too.  Isn’t that true? 

 

   To the dry and dull Christian, one must ask, “When was the last time you got into a dialogue with someone about what you believe?”  “When was the last time you reached out to someone who was really hurting and needed your encouragement?”  “When have you spoken to someone about the goodness of the Lord?”  It is amazing, when we give out, much is given back to us.  The more we give, the more that is multiplied back to us.  That is amazing!  We can’t afford to hoard our faith or anything else that God so generously gives to us.  As Greg Laurie so colorfully put it: Evangelize or fossilize!  Amen!

 

 

    “I said to myself, “Come on, let’s try pleasure.  Let’s look for the ‘good things’ in life.”  But I found that this, too, was meaningless.  So I said, “Laughter is silly.  What good does it do to seek pleasure?”  (Ecclesiastes 2:1-2)

 

   This Scripture is somewhat puzzling, especially the ‘Laughter is silly.”  In other places in the Word we read that laughter is good for the soul.  Even doctors tell you that it is good to laugh.  Laughter is supposed to release something that our bodies need.  I have noticed that good belly laughs are wonderful to release tension.  So what is the writer trying to say in this Scripture?  Apparently in the time when this was written, they had the same problem.  The pursuit of pleasure is nothing new to our day.  Solomon is reminding us  that there is nothing new under the sun.  Though their technology was not as sophisticated as ours, or as advanced, the basic desires and cravings of humanity have not changed.  There are still those who live by their philosophy of “eat, drink, and be merry”.  If these people live long enough, practicing this philosophy will only lead them, hopefully, into the emptiness of it all.

 

   When I pray for my children and grandchildren, I ask God to give them days of laughter and enjoyment but only to the amount needed.  I want them to enjoy their youth but I want most of all that they have a close relationship with God, and that they walk closely with Him.  I believe when our relationship is right with our God, then we will clearly see the worldly things for what they are.  That person will see the emptiness and futility of things the world chases after.  Solomon is saying for us to seek the Godly ‘good things in life’.   The things that are eternal.  The things that will remain in the end.