Stain

There are many problems with growing old: aching knees, can’t sleep at night, tired all day, poor eyesight, poorer hearing, … shall I go on?!  But today, I noticed thin skin.  Now, up to now, I have been accused of being “thick-skinned”, but not anymore.  I banged my hand working out in the driveway and bled like a stuck pig (If you have never butchered a pig in the fall, you have no idea what I am talking about).  Anyway, I grabbed the handkerchief out of my hip pocket and wrapped it around my hand to stop the bleeding.  Then I went inside to get a band-aid.  I told my wife (to get some sympathy) and she cautioned me about the bloodstain on my white handkerchief.  She explained, “Blood stains.  You have to soak the handkerchief in cold water overnight.”  I got out a plastic pan, added cold water, and the handkerchief.  The next morning, the water was reddish and the handkerchief was reddish too.  Then I put the handkerchief in the washer with the white clothes with detergent, fabric softener, and bleach.  An hour later, the handkerchief came out clean as the new-fallen snow!  Hey, that is exactly the opposite of my dirty, black sins.  My heart was stained with sins, but the precious blood of Jesus cleaned my black sins and made my heart white as snow!  Isaiah 1:18, “… though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”  Unlike the blood on my handkerchief, the blood of Jesus Christ REMOVED the stain of sin from my heart!  And the blood of Jesus can do the same for your heart.  Trust Jesus.  Let His blood cleanse your heart.

 

Leaning

Brother Tom was mowing the grass in the church field when a neighbor called him over to the fence for a chat.  The neighbor was concerned about a huge oak tree on our property.  He was afraid it would fall on his house, so he wanted to give us a warning.  Brother Tom mentioned it to Pastor Jamie, and it went on the maintenance “to do” list.  I have a chain saw and love a challenge, so I went down to our field to survey the situation.  The tree was huge, and the tree was dead.  Very dead.  I had brought a string with me and a washer on the end for a plumb bob.  I held the string up lining it up with the tree and walked around until the body of the tree lined up with my plumb bob.  That was the way that the tree would fall.  I notched the base of the old oak tree on that side.  It was so big that I had to cut from both sides using my 24” chainsaw bar.  Then I began cutting into the other side to meet the notch.  As I neared the center, the cut began to widen: the tree was beginning to fall.  I walked backwards (carefully so as not to trip) and watched.  The remaining trunk began to pop and squeal, and the old tree fell to the ground with a powerful thud.  I walked to the truck, put my saw in the back, and noticed three neighbors watching.  They called out “congratulations”.  They were impressed with my accuracy.  What they didn’t know was that I had no control over where the tree was going to fall.  It was already leaning, and no matter what I did, the big tree was going to fall that way.  It just looked like I had precisely dropped a huge tree.  But I didn’t tell them any different.  I just walked a little taller.  Hey, in my life, God is in control.  He has a plan and purpose for me.  I can fight God’s plan, or I can cooperate with God’s plan.  But God IS going to win.  Oh, I make my own decisions, but God already knows what I am going to decide, and God uses that information in His plan.  Paul said in Romans 8:28, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”  So, my best plan is to join with God’s plan.  If I join in God’s plan, things will work out best for me … and God will receive the glory!  After all, He alone is worthy of the praise!  Hey, embrace God’s plan and purpose for your life.  You’ll be glad that you did.

Driving with Two Feet

When I was fourteen years old, I learned to drive on my dad’s 1958 Volkswagen beetle.  It had a five-speed manual transmission with 36 horsepower.  Four years later, when I was driving my dad’s automatic Dodge, I was using both feet (like I did driving the Volkswagen) and my dad corrected me.  He said, “You use two feet for a manual transmission with a clutch and a brake, but you only use your right foot to drive an automatic.”  When I asked him why, he responded, “You should never get into the habit of using the brake AND the accelerator at the same time.  They are opposites, and you’ll waste gas and wear out the brakes.”  He was right.  You can’t “go” and “stop” at the same time.  Hey, in the Christian life, you can’t worry and trust God at the same time.  You can do one or the other, but you can’t do both.  Like driving an automatic with two feet, trusting while worrying is just counterproductive.  David said it well in Psalm 37:7-9, “Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass. Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil. For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth.”  Trust in the good Lord, because someday, you will inherit the earth, and rule and reign with Jesus Christ.  Don’t worry, just trust.