Paper Towel Dispenser

 

At cardiac rehab in the men’s locker room, there are two lavatories with paper towel dispensers on each end.  I use the one near the door because … well, it’s near the door, and I’m lazy (the other lavatory takes two extra steps, a total of four, coming and going).  Two weeks ago, I noticed that the paper towel was not winding out as far as it had been.  A problem with the automatic dispenser.  Then last week, it was even shorter.  So, Monday, it only rolled out two inches!  Not even worth using.  So, I had to waste four steps to go to the farther lavatory and the farther paper towel dispenser.  I’m not a paper towel mechanic, but I think that the battery is going out of the paper towel dispenser.  Hey, I know some church-goers who are just like our faulty paper towel dispenser.  Their decline is incremental.  First, they miss a service once in a while.  Then they stop going on Wednesday evenings.  Then they skip a Sunday night here and there.  Pretty soon, it’s only Sunday mornings … when it’s convenient.  The same thing happens with their giving.  And their Bible reading and prayer in the mornings suffer the same declension.  Hey, it’s easy to cool off and become complacent!  The church at Laodicea had the same problem.  Jesus Christ said in Revelation 3:15-17, “I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.”  Hey, can I make an application?  Wake up and get with it!  Don’t be satisfied with just lukewarm Christianity!  God hates it and you hate it!  It is as useless as a two-inch piece of paper towel on dripping wet hands!  Repent and get back to where you want to be with the dear Lord!  You’ll be glad that you did!

Don't Be Afraid

 

I heard a good quote today.  Alistair Begg was preaching about Naomi and Ruth.  When Naomi saw the kindness of Boaz to her daughter-in-law, Naomi told Ruth to go back to the threshing floor that night and tell Boaz how she felt.  After Ruth spent the night with Boaz at the threshing floor, she came home to Naomi with an apron full of grain.  Naomi asked her what had happened, and Ruth “told her all that the man had done to her” Ruth 3:16.  Nothing wrong had happened that night, so Ruth wasn’t afraid to tell Naomi everything.  Here is the quote, “When you go out on a date, don’t do anything that you would be afraid to tell your mother about.”  Alistair went on, “You may be thought of as a prude or as old-fashioned, but you can be truthful.”  Hey, keep no secrets from those whom you love.  Live your life so that you are never afraid of telling the truth to your parents or to your spouse.  Live your life like an open book.  Live your life with honesty and respect.

Leave the Light On

 

I remember years ago when our grandson would spend the night at our house.  Greyson had great fun at Marmie’s and Granddaddy’s house.  He didn’t have to eat what he didn’t want to eat, and he didn’t have to do what he didn’t want to do … within reason.  He did have to pick up the Legos that he had spilled all over the basement floor … but Granddaddy helped.  We raced to see who could pick up the Legos first.  He won!  Poor little sucker.  After a bath and prayers, Greyson went to bed.  But he wanted me to leave the lamp on.  He said that he would feel better if I left it on.  Hmm.  When you’re seven years old, isn’t it a comfort to have a lamp on at bedtime?  Oh, I remember those days well, don’t you?  Do you still sleep with a light on?  Not judging, just asking.  So why is it that we feel comforted when we leave a lamp on?  We know that all the doors are locked.  We know that we are safe.  But, of course, there are many scary things in the dark.  Things that we cannot see.  We don’t know what they are, because we can’t see them, but we just know that they’re there.  But a lamp left on reveals that there isn’t anything there.  A lamp dispels darkness and reveals only peace, comfort, and security.  King David nailed it when he said in Psalm 119:105, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.”  God’s Word is a comfort to us and gives us peace, comfort, and security.  God’s Word dispels the darkness in our lives ... that is if we read it.  Hey, why not read it right now?  It’s much better than reading Facebook.  Really.