Toothache

 

Exactly one week ago, I began to have a toothache.  So, I brushed my teeth especially well where the pain was occurring and rinsed my mouth out with mouthwash.  I was careful not to eat any sweets or hot/cold drinks, and the pain went away.  Great!  I planned on calling the dentist Monday morning.  But with the pain gone, I forgot all about the dentist … until a week later.  Yesterday, I was chewing gum (duh!) and felt something odd in my mouth: my crown had come off!  I picked it out of the gum and put it in my pocket.  Now I had to call the dentist on Monday morning.  I told my wife that I was going to put the crown under my pillow for the tooth fairy.  We laughed, and I said, “I’ll get a couple of dollars for the crown but have to pay $2,000 at the dentist’s office for another one!”  Not a very good idea.  And another bad idea is listening to someone’s advice about the Bible who hasn’t read it.  That’s second-hand information.  A better idea would be to read the Bible for yourself.  And like second-hand smoke, second-hand information about the Bible could be deadly!  If your pastor/priest/imam/rabbi hasn’t read the Bible, don’t listen to their advice!  Read the Bible for yourself!  Jesus spoke of two roads in Matthew 7.  Jesus said in Matthew 7:13&14, “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.”  Hey, don’t be like me and give a $2,000 crown to the tooth fairy!  A bad decision!  Listen to the dear Lord for spiritual advice.  A good decision!

Burning the Candle at Both Ends

 

Have you heard of “burning the candle at both ends”?  That’s when someone is working too much.  The problem with burning a candle at both ends is that eventually, it is consumed.  An old-fashioned oil lamp, however, burns the oil that’s in the reservoir.  The wick occasionally needs to be trimmed, but it doesn’t burn up – only the oil is consumed.  And that’s how we as Christians should operate.  Our strength is not in how many hours we work burning the candle at both ends; our strength is resting in the Lord, our oil.  It’s not how hard we work; it’s how much we surrender.  Proverbs 3:5&6, “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”

Sluggard

 

My third year in college, I worked at Standard Coosa Thacher thread mill on the night shift.  I went to work at 10 pm and got off at 6 am, just in time to shower and get to breakfast at 7 am.  Then at 8 am, I had Old Testament Survey with Dr. George Earnshaw.  The class was big and met in the Sharp auditorium at the edge of campus.  The first day of school, Dr. Earnshaw announced a job in class.  My hand shot up, and he picked me for what he called Operation Priority: it was my job to raise my hand and signal him that class was over in five minutes.  I got extra credit for it!  But I was always sleepy after working all night.  So, I would sit in the very back of the big room right behind someone with my head in my hands and elbows on my knees and sleep sitting up.  My friends would wake me up five minutes before class was over so I could raise my hand and get the extra credit that I needed.  I was such a sluggard, but the dear Lord gave me good friends (that I didn’t deserve).  Proverbs 6:9&10, “How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep? Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep:”  I’ll not finish verse 11.  It’s too convicting.  ;<)