Dumb Move

 

I am working on a stained glass project for … well, just a stained glass project for someone.  When I use my wet grinder, I feel tiny little shards hitting my glasses, so I wondered if some of those pieces were sticking in my mustache, beard, eyebrows and hair.  So, I decided to make a shield for protection.  I had to make a stand, so I cranked up my propane forge to bend and flatten a piece of ½” rebar.  As I was finishing, I took the bar out of the forge and quenched it in a ready five-gallon bucket.  But the bucket was only halfway full, so the rebar only went halfway in.  After I had cooled the rebar, I dropped it on the concrete driveway and went about tidying up the area.  After the tools were put away and the forge turned off, I picked up the rebar (on the quenched end).  I thought, “I wonder if the other end has cooled sufficiently?” and slid my hand down the rebar a hand’s width at a time.  When I got near the end it was still hot and I immediately let go, but not before I had burned the palm of my hand.  Dumb move.  In that split-second, my skin turned the color of a chicken breast in a skillet.  Really dumb move.  I had checked to see if the rebar was hot, and it was.  Not too long ago, I tested a knife that I was sharpening with my thumb, and it was sharp.  Another dumb move.  Two weeks ago, I was pulling on a wrench to remove the oil plug from my car’s engine.  The plug let loose, and I scraped my hand against the oil pan.  I knew that the oil plug was going to pop loose, but I was still surprised when it did.  Another dumb move.  But one decision that I made that was not a dumb move was to put my faith in Jesus Christ!  April 17, 1956, I trusted Jesus as my Savior.  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.”  Trusting Jesus was the best decision that I ever made.  Yes, it was!

Glasses

 

I was forty years old and working on my pick-up truck.  For some reason, my brake lights weren’t coming on when they should.  I was lying (laying sounds better, but is incorrect) on the seat with my head hanging under the steering wheel looking at the fuse box.  But I couldn’t seem to focus on the fuses.  My head was all the way back against the bottom of the seat, but I still couldn’t make out if the fuse was a 15 or 20 amp fuse.  And then I panicked.  “What is wrong with my eyes?” I thought.  I went to an ophthalmologist the next day and he said, “Your problem is that you’ve had too many birthdays.  It’s just time for you to get reading glasses.”  But I protested, “I’m not that old!  I’m just forty!”  The doctor just gave me that condescending look as my realization sank in.  I was that old.  I heard Dr. Gary Chapman talking about the same milestone in his life.  He said to the eye doctor, “So are you telling me that I have to wear these glasses all the time?!”  The doctor answered, “No, not all the time.  Only when you want to see.”  If you want to see you wear the glasses.  Hey, that’s exactly how it is with our spiritual vision.  We read the Bible only if we want to see.  When life’s problems pop up, read the Bible to find out how to solve them.  But if we don’t want to do what the Bible says, we don’t have to.  But neither will life’s problems be solved.  James said it best in James 1:22, “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.”  If you want to see, wear the glasses.  If you want to solve life’s problems, read the Book.  But don’t just read it; obey it.  Simple but profound.

Rage

 

We live in an angry world.  Folk say such mean things on facebook and X with no compunction.  Teens bully their weaker peers sending out wicked texts/demeaning pictures.  Parents break out in fights at little league games and model anger to their children.  Road rage is common. Someone cuts in front of another, there is retaliation, and suddenly a gun is pulled out.  Why such uncontrolled anger?  Why such rage?  Paul said in Romans12:21, “Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.”  The answer is simple: first, you must be a follower of Christ, and second, you must be spirit controlled.  Paul said in verse 14, “Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not.”  Bless them Instead of blessing them out.  Hey, today, try to follow verse 10, “Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another.”  Put Jesus first, others next, and put yourself last … and have a good day.