Guardrails

In 2013, I drove from Deva, Romania to Oradea, Romania.  The trip was beautiful because it took my up through the Romanian mountains.  But it was also dangerous.  The roads were curvy, mountain roads with no guardrails!  I am used to the protection of guardrails.  Hey, King David blew right through several “guardrails of life” that the dear Lord had put in his way.  First, he wasn’t where he was supposed to be.  Second, He slept all day and got up at the wrong time.  He should have been working.  Third, he let his eyes wander where they shouldn’t have been.  Fourth, he toyed with another man’s wife.  Fifth, he committed adultery.  Sixth, he committed conspiracy to cover it up.  Seventh, he committed murder.  Eighth, he lied about all the above.  Wow!  David totally ignored God’s guardrails to keep him out of trouble!  But before we are too harsh on David, Paul said in I Corinthians 10:12, “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.”  All of us are capable of David’s sins … and more!  We must be constantly on the lookout for danger.  Remember, God’s guardrails of protection will keep us on the right track.

Shamgar and the Old Blue Van

Shamgar was one of the judges in the Bible.  He didn’t have a sword or a spear or a bow with arrows, he only had an ox goad - a sharpened pole about eight feet long.  I suppose you could say that Shamgar was one of the first ninja warriors.  He didn’t have much, but he used what he did have to great effect.  Which leads me to my story for today.  Our church had an old blue van that we used to bring boys and girls to church.  The kids were hard on the van which was already old when we bought it.  One Sunday a boy got off the old blue van and slammed the sliding side door so hard that it fell off.  The remaining children laughed and laughed.  Captain Kirk, (so they called Kirk A. who drove the van) had the last laugh.  Without the sliding door working, now the kids had to come in the front door and climb over the engine cowling to get into the back of the van.  About two months ago, the old blue van wouldn’t start for the last time, so we were in the market for a newer van.  One month ago, my mechanic showed me a van on his lot and asked me if I needed a van to carry my tools in.  I said, “No, but our church needs a van.”  The mechanic, John M. said he thought that the church who owned the van would want about $3500 for it.  He offered to contact the pastor.  The next day John called me and said that the pastor had said that since it was for a church, they would give it to us for free.  What a blessing!  We have the van in our parking lot, and we are getting the title transferred and license plates and …  in a few weeks, the van will be picking up boys and girls for church.  Judges 3:31, “And after him was Shamgar the son of Anath, which slew of the Philistines six hundred men with an ox goad: and he also delivered Israel.”  Shamgar used what he had, and we used what we had: the old blue van.  And in each case, the Lord took care of the rest.

Spoiled

My wife and I like the fresh bread from the deli at Wall-Mart.  It is only a dollar and tastes so much better.  It is so much healthier because it doesn’t have all of those preservatives in it.  But because the bread doesn’t have preservatives in it, it only lasts a couple of days before it spoils.  Hey, bread isn’t the only thing that spoils.  When we drift away from the dear Lord, we lose our joy.  Our attitudes spoil.  The prophet Joel said in Joel 1:12, “The vine is dried up, and the fig tree languisheth; the pomegranate tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree, even all the trees of the field, are withered: because joy is withered away from the sons of men.”  Have you lost the joy in life?  Are you just going through the motions of living?  Then get back to God.  Get back to reading the Bible.  Get back to where you lost your joy and find it again.  You’ll be glad that you did.