Single Work Boot

 

I drove to the bookstore at the mall to get a birthday present for my granddaughter last Tuesday evening.  I got the books that I wanted, and since I had parked by JCPenney, I ran in to see if they had any ties marked down.  They didn’t, but by the exit they had several athletic shoes on clearance.  I picked up my size and walked a few feet to the shoe department to find a stool to try them on.  I slid off my left work boot and put on the left sneaker, but it was too small.  I hobbled back to the display with one shoe off and one shoe on and got a size larger.  When I went back to the shoe department, there were three Penney executives with folded arms staring at my work boot.  As I hobbled up to the men with the other work boot on, I sheepishly said, “Sorry.  I’m trying on these athletic shoes.”  One of them said, “Oh, no, no!  We’re glad you are!”  The other one went on, “Customers often steal shoes and leave their old ones here, so we’re glad to see you shopping instead of stealing!”  I was relieved and they were relieved.  Everyone was happy.  I even found clearance shoes that fit!  Hey, when you praise the dear Lord above, it’s a win/win situation too!  Hebrews 13:15, “By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.”  God is honored by our praise, and we are satisfied because we were made to give praise to Him.  Hey, praise the dear Lord today!

Disappointed

 

Monday morning, I went to cardiac rehab and went through my exercises.  When I picked up the 10-pound dumbbells and did my presses, I fairly flew through them.  I thought, “I am really developing great muscles.”  But then I looked down at the dumbbell rack and saw that someone had misplaced the 8-pound dumbbells for where the 10-pound dumbbells should have been.  I wasn’t developing great muscles at all!  How disappointing!  Hey, have you ever been disappointed?  I have!  But I have never been disappointed in Jesus Christ.  Have you?  Of course you haven’t.  You may have been disappointed by someone at church or a preacher on TV, but you have never been disappointed by Jesus Christ.  That’s because He is the real deal and Jesus Christ will never disappoint anyone.  The writer of the book of Hebrews said in Hebrews 13:5, “… for he (Jesus) hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”  He never has and He never will.

Followers of Christ

 

If you are a Christian, people are going to say all kinds of slanderous things about you.  Just make sure that they aren’t true.  I Peter 3:14,16,17 “But and if ye suffer for righteousness' sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled … that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ. For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing.”  If you are a Christian, you will suffer verbal abuse.  After all, look at the way Jesus was treated.  So, wear your slander well!

Prophecy

 

The Jews were proud of their beautiful Temple.  And rightly so, with its gold-clad roof and white marble walls, it fairly shone in the bright sunshine.  But Jesus prophesied in Matthew 24:2 “… See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.”  The Jewish leaders scoffed at the words of Jesus, but in 70 A.D. those words came to pass in an interesting way.  A Jewish revolt that began in 66 A.D. was being squelched by Vespasian when he was selected as the emperor to replace Nero.  He returned to Rome leaving his army in the hands of his son, Titus, who laid siege to Jerusalem.  Wanting to save the beautiful Temple, Titus gave strict orders not to touch the Temple Mount.  But after Jerusalem fell to the Romans, the ransacking began.  Someone set fire to the Temple and it burned to the ground.  As it burned, the gold melted and ran down into the cracks of the huge marble blocks.  The Roman legionnaires pried the scorched stones apart to retrieve the gold.  And, what do you know, when the Romans were finished, not a single stone was left on top of another.  Jesus’ words had come true.  His words were true when He spoke them in the first century, and they are just as true today.  Hey, have you trusted in Jesus as your Lord and Savior?  Don’t you want to know the peace that comes from knowing Jesus as the Lord of your life?  Do it now while you have the opportunity.

God's Children

 

Years ago, I had a man say to me, “God would not send one of His children to hell.”  And he is right, but not everyone is one of God’s children.  Jesus said to the religious Pharisees in John 8:44, “Ye are of your father the devil …”  Paul said in Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.”  Most people can figure out what “all” means.  “All” means everyone … from Hitler to Mother Teresa, everyone sins.  Some sin more and some sin less, but “all” sin.  And that’s not God’s fault.  The DOT worker who puts up a sign reading, “Bridge Out” is not responsible for those who drive around the sign and plummet over the drop-off.  And God is not responsible for those who refuse His repeated warnings and refuse His offer of salvation through Jesus Christ.  Peter said in II Peter 3:9, “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”  God does not want you to perish; he wants you to be saved.  God offers you the gift of salvation.  The question is, will you accept it?

Thank You for Your Service

 

I never served in the military, but I came awfully close to serving.  Because I had to work while in college, I fell below full-time status and was classified 1-A in 1969.  The first lottery draft was held in December 1969.  My lottery number was 215 out of 365 and that year in my county, and they drafted young men up to 205.  After 1970, I was safe.  I often wonder what my life would have been had I served in the military.  I had several college friends who came home from Vietnam with their school tuition paid for by the GI bill.  But I also had one who came back with shrapnel in his leg and back, and one came back in a metal box.  I remember stories told to me by my Uncle Bill Wagner, Uncle Bill McNish, and Uncle Gray Whitely, all in WWII.  My Uncle Dean Whitely served in the Air National Guard, and still lives in Joppa, Md.  Yesterday was Uncle Dean’s 86^th birthday.  Happy birthday, Uncle Dean, and thank you for your service!  As they say, “We live in the land of the free because of the brave.”  Hey, thank a veteran today.  He will be proud and you will be thankful.  A win/win for both of you.

Helen Cadbury

 

Helen was born in 1877 and grew up in Birmingham, England.  And she was born into God’s family when she was twelve years old.  She started a club at school to encourage others to be more fervent Christians.  Her Bible was too bulky to carry onto the playground, so she devised a little pocket sown into her dress for a small New Testament.  This began the Pocket Testament League.  Helen made commitment cards for each of her 60 club members.  They each promised to read a passage in the Bible each day, pray each day, and tell someone else about salvation in Jesus Christ each day.  What a wonderful idea for a twelve-year-old girl!  Her father, Charles Cadbury, was famous for Cadbury Chocolates.  Paul said in I Thessalonians 5:11, “Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.”  Have you been edified by Helen Cadbury’s story today?  Then why not do something yourself to point others to Christ today?!

Seeing is Believing

 

Have you ever heard, “Seeing is believing”?  Well, that is very true … except in the spiritual world.  Because in the spiritual world, “Believing is seeing”.  We must believe many things by faith, and then we see how the Lord brings them to pass!  Paul said in Galatians 3:6, “… Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.”  Jonah preached to the pagans in Nineveh that God’s judgement was coming.  Jonah 3:5, “So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.”  The king of Nineveh went on to say in verse 9, “Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?”  Because the Ninevites believed God, a great revival came upon them, and the dear Lord canceled His impending judgement!  What a blessing!  And what a lesson for us!  Hey, we must repent and believe God, and He will show us His mercy and grace!

Introductory Offer

 

Sin is like the cable company promotion.  Let me explain: the cable company has a great promotion.  If you sign up with them for just twelve months, they have such low prices and great introductory options.  The salesman sweettalks you into signing the contract.  But after the first few days, the service stinks, and the fees stack onto that low monthly payment, but the contract has you locked in for a full year.  And sin is so attractive at the beginning.  But soon, you realize that sin has consequences.  Solomon warned in Proverbs 23:31&32, “Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes? They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine. Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright. At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder. Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things. Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast. They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick; they have beaten me, and I felt it not: when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.”  Hey, the good times at the party are short-lived.  Drunkenness leads to ‘babblings’, ‘fights’, ‘bleary eyes’, ‘lewd women’, ‘unexplained wounds’, and ‘hangovers’.  Does that sound like fun?!  But the commercials paint such a beautiful picture!  Hey, that’s just to get you hooked.  Stop and think before you get involved in sin.  Trust what the dear Lord has to say in His Word.  Listen to parents, listen to teachers, and listen to preachers.  Don’t fall for the ‘introductory offer’ of sin.  It’s not worth it!

The Night Shift

 

The summer after my second year of college (1969), I got a job at Bata Shoe Company in Bel Camp, Maryland.  It was the night shift, and I am not a night shift person.  But it was a job.  Day shift and afternoon shift worked eight hours with a half hour lunch leaving only six and a half hours for us to work on the night shift.  To make up for the lost time, night shift started at eight Sunday night and worked until eight Monday morning, which was brutal.  I tried to get a nap on Sunday afternoon, but it was hard to sleep before I needed to sleep.  But it was easy to sleep after being awake for twenty-four hours!  Monday morning after my shift was unbearable.  I was so sleepy driving my dad’s 1958 Volkswagen home that I swerved from side to side on the narrow road on the five-mile drive home.  I actually stopped once to just close my eyes for a moment.  When I woke, I had been asleep for fifteen minutes.  But that tiny nap gave me the rest that I needed to make it home.  My mother tried to entice me with breakfast, but I went straight to bed.  Within seconds, I was sleeping the most luxurious sleep I could recall.  Solomon Said it best in Ecclesiastes 5:12, “The sleep of a labouring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much …”  Well said, Solomon.  Your verse could be the theme verse of the night shift worker.

Prayer

 

Often, I am careless in my prayers.  I begin with my shopping list of requests instead of pausing as I come into the throne room of the Creator of the Universe.  I fail to acknowledge that God knows what He is going to do before I ask.  So, my prayers are really for my benefit and my opportunity to praise the Lord for His greatness, love, and benevolence.  And I need to be more careful about what I ask for.  Little kids ask for candy.  Often, I ask amiss.  I should think before I ask.  Really.  Because God might give me what I ask for, but it might not be what He wants to give me.  After all, God knows what is best for me.  I had an older friend years ago who was careful when he prayed.  At the beginning of his public prayers, he always said, “Dear Lord, please guide me in my prayer.”  Very wise, Mr. Robert.  And I try to ask the Holy Spirit to turn my prayers around and deliver them to the heavenly Father just as He would have them to be.  Paul said in Romans 8:26, “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.”  I am glad that the Holy Spirit interprets my prayers and delivers them as I would want them to be delivered.  Hey, take a moment and ask the dear Lord to help you in your prayers today.  And He will!

Prophecy

 

March 12, 2015, I spoke at International Christian School in Budapest, Hungary.  The student body was mainly missionary kids but included several unchurched students as well.  Well-to-do families in Budapest liked their children to learn English in a moral setting.  A Chinese high school student asked me how I knew that the Bible was true.  I explained that prophecy sets the Bible apart from other sacred books.  Only the Bible accurately foretells events before they happen.  I used the crucifixion of Christ as an example and cited two Old Testament verses:  Psalm 22:16, “For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet.”  Zechariah 12:10, “They shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him.”  King David spoke of “piercing” the hands and the feet of the Messiah one thousand years before crucifixion was ever thought of!  And this is the only time that the Hebrew verb for pierced is used in the Old Testament!  Pray for the students at ICSB and the teachers as they minister to the young people.

Angry Birds

 

I have a Roku box and every once in a while, I play “Angry Birds” with it.  For those of you who don’t know, Angry Birds is one of the dumbest games that has ever been invented … but it’s addictive.  These little round pig heads are nestled inside of stacked boards and blocks and the object is to launch one of three angry bird heads from a rubber band sling shot to break down the stacked stuff and destroy the pigs.  When I miscalculate and a bird head misses its mark, the pigs grunt lustily and squeal with delight.  They make me sooo mad!  Hey, that’s exactly how Satan and his imps treat me in my spiritual life.  They goad me into making mistakes and then they laugh with delight at my failures.  But if I just take a moment and call on the Lord’s name in prayer, those forces of evil aren’t laughing any more.  They slink away into the sewer from whence they came.  Evil can’t abide the light of day!  Paul said in I Corinthians 10:13, “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”  Thank you, Jesus for fighting my battles.  “I’m so glad I learned to trust Thee, Precious Jesus, Savior, Friend; And I know that Thou art with me, Wilt be with me to the end.  Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him, How I’ve proved Him o’er and o’er!  Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus!  O for grace to trust Him more!”

Satisfaction Rating

 

I get e-mails constantly reminding me to rate my recent purchases on Amazon.  It could be that I am ordering too much on Amazon.  But that’s another story for another day.  So, I spend an hour every week or so rating the value of my purchases.  And as I rated my purchases from zero to five stars, I began to think.  If the dear Lord had to evaluate me online, would he rate me as five stars?  Or maybe just two stars?  When He gets me in His divine order, is He satisfied with what He gets?  Probably not.  But I can do better.  Jesus has given His life for me.  Shouldn’t I give Him my best in return?  I think so.  So, with the Lord’s help, I am going to do better at my satisfaction rating.  I am going to work on my spiritual customer service and give God his money’s worth.  The old apostle John said in I John 4:19, “We love him, because he first loved us.”  Simple, isn’t it?  Hey, how about you?  Where do you stand with your Maker?  How many stars would God give you?  Think about it.

Being Careful

 

My wife and I got to her retina specialist for her 10:40 appointment Tuesday only to find that her injectables had not arrived.  So the receptionist had to reschedule my wife’s appointment.  As we went out the door, we secretly high fived each other; no shots in the eye today!  To celebrate, we got two heart-shaped Dunkin’ Donuts and two coffees.  The cashier put the two donuts in a box and handed me the two coffees.  Then she asked, “Do you need a cup carrier?”  As I began to stack them up, I replied, “No, I’ve got it.”  Then I cautiously added, “But I’m not to the car yet.”  I walked to the door with two coffee cups (with lids) stacked and the small box of donuts on the top.  I opened the door with my back, walked to the car, and put the stack on top of the car.  I had made it!  How often in life do we think, “I’ve got this,” only to find that the beginning is much easier than the finishing.  Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 7:8, “Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof: and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.”  A proud spirit has often gotten me into trouble.  A patient spirit is better.  Hey, what about you?  Are you plagued by a proud spirit?  Why not ask the Lord to help you today?  He has many ways to bring you low … without destroying your spirit.  Let the Lord have His way with you today.  You’ll be glad that you did.

God Is Faithful

 

Last Friday I mailed off our last house payment.  And you are right, it felt really good.  I remember when we moved into our house and the commitment of a thirty-year loan sank in.  I clearly remember thinking, “I will be 74 years old when we make the last payment!”  And, here I am, 74 years old and still alive!  The Lord has been so good to us over the past thirty years.  We have never missed a payment and never even been late on a single payment.  And that is not bragging on me; that’s a testament to the faithfulness of the dear Lord!  David said it best in Psalm 37:25&26, “I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread. He is ever merciful, and lendeth; and his seed is blessed.”  Can I brag on my heavenly Father?!  He is faithful!  Yes, He is!

Place de Charles de Gaulle

 

In 2005, we traveled to France to visit the Bible Institute in Algarange.  One afternoon, we drove to Paris to take in the sights.  I drove one car and Sonney H. drove the other.  We visited all of the tourist sights and drove down the Champs-Élysées, the most popular boulevard in Paris.  It ended at the Place de Charles de Gaulle, and before I knew it, we were in the huge roundabout circling the Arc de Triomphe with seven lanes and twelve exits!  Cars to the left had the right-of-way, and cars coming in had to yield.  Sonney and I circled three times before I could find the right exit out!  Hey, sometimes in life, I am grateful for lines and rules.  Without rules, we couldn’t survive.  Hey, God has rules too.  They are called the Ten Commandments.  And God’s rules are intended to keep us safe.  Without obeying God’s rules for life, we would slip into wicked debauchery and wicked lawlessness!  David said in Psalm 19:9, “The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.”  We may grumble at following God’s rules, but they are for our own good.  Disobey them at our peril!  Follow them and we will have peace, safety, and a good life.

Security

 

I like to push my wife’s wheelchair around.  Really, I do.  But when I take her shopping, I hover over her too much.  I suggest this dress and that top and my constant ‘help’ is just too much for her.  That’s because I am a man and she is a woman.  She goes shopping and I go buying.  But we have found middle ground: I take her into Hamrick’s and leave her there to shop to her heart’s content, and I go next door to Tractor Supply and buy to my heart’s content.  And we are both happy.  But the other day, I came back to Hamrick’s, and she was in a conversation with a man.  I came up just as she was saying, “I picked up this bag to keep my items in.  I’m not shoplifting; my purchases just keep falling off my lap.”  The man said, “I’ll tell the security.  Thanks.”  Evidently, one of the store security men was watching my wife!  Really?!  Do you think that a lady in a wheelchair could ‘run’ out of the store with several items?!  Wouldn’t she be easy to catch?!  Oh, well …  At least my wife was proactive and had spoken to the man and explained her situation.  Paul said in Romans 14:16, “Let not then your good be evil spoken of.”  Better to get out of a problem before you get into a problem.  Good thinking, Kathy.  Good thinking.

Leaving a Legacy

 

In 2006, I worked on a house remodel on Lookout Mountain.  We added a two-story addition to the house, which was built in 1886.  When we cut into the roof to attach the new addition, we had to remove several boards and discovered penciled writings on the underside of the boards that were nailed onto the roof in 1886!  Evidently, carpenters had calculated their hours for the day, added them up, and calculated how much money they were to get paid for the week.  I didn’t know their names or anything else about them, but they left a legacy behind.  It wasn’t much of a legacy, but it was something.  Hey, when you pass on, what will your legacy be?  A few numbers scribbled on a board or something greater?  Hey, you can make a difference by giving money to missions.  You can invite folk to church and make a change in their lives.  You can teach your children and your grandchildren about the Lord.  David said in Psalm 145:3&4, “Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts.”  May our generation proclaim the goodness of the Lord to the next generation, is my prayer.

Being Polite

 

Wednesday morning, I was leaving cardiac rehab and came downstairs to go outside to my car.  As I approached the automatic sliding doors, a man was coming into the same door.  We both saw each other at the same time, and we both stepped aside to let the other go through first.  You know that awkward dance: you move to the right, they move right at the same time.  You move left and at the same moment, they move left too.  But because both of us stepped aside, the automatic door didn’t sense anyone and didn’t open.  So, because we were both being polite, no one was going to get through the door.  The problem was being nice … the first time that ever happened!  Paul admonishes us in Philippians 2:3, “Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.”  This verse applies, except for Wednesday morning at Memorial hospital!  Ha, ha!  Hey, be nice to someone today.  You’ll be glad that you did, they’ll be glad that you did, and the dear Lord will be glad that you did.  Yes, He will!

Good Decision, Bad Decision

 

I made a good decision and a bad decision last Tuesday.  Let me explain.  My wife likes to shop at Aldi’s, so we shopped at Aldi’s.  And on the snack aisle, she instructed me to get some snacks.  Of course, Aldi’s doesn’t have many name brand items, but I found some knock-off double-stuff Oreo cookies that looked promising.  A good decision.  But back home, I couldn’t find a container to put them in.  So, I emptied some old Christmas Chex mix, rinsed out the container, and refilled it with my precious cookies.  A bad decision, because of the size of the neck of the jar.  I could barely get my hand into the jar, but once I gripped a cookie, I couldn’t get my hand out of the jar at all … the whole point of putting my hand into the jar!  Of course, I could dump the jar over, but that added a step to my cookie retrieval, adding time and bother.  Bummer.  The lesson learned: think ahead and get a wide-mouth jar.  Hey, often in life, I don’t think ahead.  I think only for the moment.  But as a six-year-old boy, I made a life-changing decision the night that I trusted Jesus Christ as my Savior.  And it changed the trajectory of my entire life!  It changed the college that I would attend, it changed my occupation; it changed who I married … in short, it changed everything in my life!  And as a 74-year-old man, I can look back and say, I made a good decision as a little six-year-old boy.  Paul said in II Corinthians 5:17, “- Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”  Hey, have you become a new creation in Christ?  Why not accept Jesus as your own.  He will transform you and He will give you a new beginning.

Crépy Skin

 

When Kathy and I watch TV, it seems like the later in the evening that it gets, the longer that the commercial break becomes.  And if I can’t sleep on a particular night, the infomercials in the wee hours of the morning seem endless. One in particular bothers me: the one about Crépe Erase.  Jane Seymour is 72 years old but doesn’t look a day over 40!  And on her infomercial, the camera zooms in on an older lady with sagging crépy skin under her arm.  I had an algebra teacher in high school who had just such arms.  She would erase the chalk board and the skin under her arm would flab as she erased.  Yuck!  Hey, aging is natural and unavoidable, but it’s also natural to fight it all you can.  I have no problem with ladies who do their best to look their best.  Aging may be slowed with beauty products, but aging cannot be stopped.  And, eventually, death comes to everyone, even Jane Seymour.  The writer of the book of Hebrews said in Hebrews 9:27, “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.”  Hey, use the beauty products and look as good as you can, but more importantly, prepare for your eternal destiny.  Your eternal destiny is much more important than avoiding crépy skin!

Automatic Trash Can

 

About a year ago, my son bought us this automatic kitchen garbage can.  At first, I thought it was unnecessary, but I soon found out that I had needed an automatic garbage can for a long time, I just didn’t know it.  When I have dripping eggshells in my right hand and my left hand is under my right hand catching the drippings on the way to the trash can, and the trash can opens automatically, I am pleased … and my wife is pleased that I don’t drip raw egg on the kitchen floor.  But my automatic trash can tends to be overly zealous.  When I get Cheerios out of the cabinet near the trash can, it opens.  When I get the broom from beside the trash can, it opens.  When I get a coffee cup from the shelf above the trash can, it opens.  It doesn’t think, it just opens.  Hey, we should be as ready to serve the dear Lord as my trash can is ready to open for me!  Paul said in Ephesians 6:5, “Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ.”  We should be quick to listen to the boss at work.  We should obey our parents immediately.  And we should be just as quick to obey the words of Jesus Christ as my trash can is to open for me!  Hey, have an automatic trash can attitude today.  I’ll bet you’ve never heard that admonition before!

A Bargain

 

I have a mantle clock that I bought in Salzburg, Austria twenty years ago that I would like to give to my son.  But the old clock quit working five years ago, so I need to get it repaired.  I went to Sam’s Watch Repair on Gunbarrel Rd and found that it will cost $225 to clean and regulate it.  A little steep for this old man.  So, I negotiated a barter of a stain glass advertisement piece for a clock repair.  I used left-over glass and was out only $52 for copper foil and lead soldier.  Much more reasonable.  When I carried in the piece to the watch shop, Sam was elated!  And when I carried in my clock (for free) I was elated!  Both of us were happy!  Solomon talked about two bargainers in Proverbs 20:14, “It is naught, it is naught, saith the buyer: but when he is gone his way, then he boasteth.”  The negotiators in our verse were both happy when the buyer walked away.  The seller thought he put one off on the sucker buyer, and the buyer thought that he had squeezed the seller out of his money.  Hey, I will be happy with my working clock and Mr. Sam will be happy with his stain glass advertisement piece.  But the biggest bargain of my life was the day that I traded my dirty rotten sins for eternal life in heaven.  Praise the dear Lord for giving me such a bargain!

Pay

 

When I first began teaching, I worked for Dick M. in the summer.  He was a framing contractor and had a five-man crew that put up a house in three days (framing only).  I was the new man, so I made door and window jacks, corners and headers.  Simple, boring, but necessary.  Gary was the lead carpenter.  Gary would lay out a wall for the others to frame up, then go to the next wall while the other men were filling in the studs, doors, and windows.  Dick and Tom would carry OSB, 2X4’s and ceiling rafters from the piles to where they were needed.  Each man had a different job with a different skillset and, as you would expect, a different salary.  Dick M. was easygoing.  He would tolerate a lot from us, but if anyone would try to find out how much someone else was making, Dick would fire them on the spot.  Just one of his rules.  Dick said that the money that you were paid was between the boss and the employee and no one else.  Jesus told a parable of a vineyard owner who had similar views.  When some of his workers complained of how much they got paid, (Matthew 20:13-15) “But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny? Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee. Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good?”  Hey, Dick paid us what he wanted to.  It was his money.  The vineyard owner paid his workers what he wanted to.  It was his money.  And God dispenses as He will to His followers.  It’s God’s business what He does with His followers.  Hey, serve God as best as you can and don’t worry about the other guy.  Just do your best for the Lord and don’t complain about anyone else.  Someday, when you meet Jesus Christ face to face, you’ll be glad that you did.

Opportunist

 

I worked at Mueller Iron Foundry, Chattanooga, TN from 1971-1976.  Since I was going to Tennessee Temple College at the time, I worked afternoon and night shifts most of the time.  One of my jobs was a crane operator.  The indoor crane was four stories up and moved 1 ½ ton ladles of liquid iron from the furnace level to the ground level.  The outdoor crane loaded scrap steel into hoppers using a two-ton electromagnet.  The track was fifty feet wide and three hundred feet long.  As the sun set during the afternoon shift, rats began to venture out of the safety of the scrap piles looking for scraps of food.  But there were two owls perched on the crane rails above.  They were looking for food too.  The rats!  If a rat was careless and ventured a little too far into the open, the nearest owl would silently plummet down to strike the unsuspecting rat.  The rat escaped if he detected the owl a split-second early, or the owl had supper if the rat detected the owl a split-second too late.  The rat was just looking for food, but the owl was an opportunist looking for an unsuspecting rat.  Hey, Satan is an opportunist just like the owl, looking for an unsuspecting target.  But the target is you!  Peter warned in I Peter 5:8, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.”  If you get reckless and stray too far from the dear Lord’s protection, Satan will swoop in and destroy you!  Yes, he will!  Hey, don’t be proud; don’t be self-willed.  Trust in the Lord and seek His protection because He is your only hope.  Trust in the Lord.  He is your only defense!

Balancing the Books

 

Years ago, we had a treasurer at church who was meticulous in his accounting.  One Sunday evening after church, he was balancing the church books and my dad was helping him.  Brother Glen had a discrepancy of 7¢ and had worked for a half hour trying to find the problem.  My dad said, “Glen, I’ll give you the 7¢ if you’ll let us go home.”  Brother Glen shook his head, continued to scribble with his pencil, and said, “The point isn’t the 7¢.  Something here doesn’t add up, and I’m going to find it!”  And he did.  Hey, there is a difference between balancing the books and juggling the books.  And with our sin, God makes careful notations and meticulous calculations.  God can’t just let sin slide; sin must be paid for.  And Jesus Christ paid our sin debt in full.  But for the unrepentant, there will be a final day of reckoning.  John said in Revelation 20:12, “And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.”  Hey, don’t try to juggle your sin books; let Jesus pay your debt in full.  Only Jesus can make your sin book balance.

Dealing with Pressure

 

My dad’s mother, Granny Whitely, lived next door to us when I was growing up.  She was a lot of fun and a wealth of knowledge.  Granny had a big garden and canned the produce in the late summer and early fall.  She had a big pressure cooker that held seven quart jars of canning vegetables.  She explained to me how that water boiled at 212° and would bubble but could go no higher … that is unless it was pressurized, and that was the purpose of the pressure cooker.  Under pressure, it could go to 240°, cook much quicker, and kill bacteria.  Granny’s pressure cooker had a pressure relief valve that kept the pressure within a safe limit.  It would wobble and hiss as steam was released during cooking.  1 cubic inch of water heated expands to 1700 cubic inches of steam, which is, in essence, an explosion!  As steam is generated in the pressure cooker, it must be vented to keep the device safe.  Hey, pressure in your life must be vented or you will blow up too!  The cares of this life, challenges at work, the worries about your children … all pile up if you don’t offload your pressures onto the Lord.  Peter said in I Peter 5:7, “Casting all your care upon him (Jesus); for he careth for you.”  Hey, why not roll your burdens off onto the capable shoulders of Jesus Christ?!  After all, Jesus can handle all the problems that you give to Him!  Yes, He can!  And yes, He will!