One of the 4′ fluorescent bulbs in my den went out. Two worked, but the other two didn’t. I had enough light to work, but my solar-powered calculator wouldn’t work correctly. So, I changed the faulty tube with a new one, and it still didn’t work. So I changed out the other tube (both were dark on the end), and it still didn’t work. So I tore the fixture apart, checked all the wires and connectors, and was prepared to order a new ballast. Just to be sure, I put the two tubes that did work into the places that were out, and they worked! Turns out the brand new fluorescent tube I installed was faulty. All that work because the factory produced a faulty part. Now that just makes me mad.
What happens in our Christian life when we produce enough light to be seen, but not enough light to make a difference? There is power, but not enough power. There is light, but not enough light. It partly works, but yet it doesn’t work.
I want my fixture producing the correct amount of light. And that’s why Jesus gave us His Holy Spirit, so our light would be bright enough to enlighten the world around us. Turn your light on and let it burn brightly.
“Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him” (Proverbs 22:15).
Foolishness isn’t sin, but what foolishness does can be. It can also be childish responsibility. When a restless child spills his milk, that may be irresponsible, but it may also be rebellion. When little Missy doesn’t pick up her toys, that may be irresponsibility, but it may also be rebellion.
We had a disciplinary rule in our house when Anita and I were raising our children: we never spanked for irresponsibility. But we did spank for rebellion. When we saw defiance in our children, we had a “rod” of correction, called a paddle. It inflicted pain without inflicting damage. And it made our children not want to rebel. It prepared them for life in the adult world. The rod of correction should never be a tool to vent the parents’ frustration, but should always drive foolishness from them.
Today is Friday the 13th. Some are superstitious that any Friday the 13th is bad luck.
One of these superstitions is that it is bad luck to start a trip on Friday, or it will bring about misfortune. Ships that set sail on a Friday will have bad luck, as in the tale of the H.M.S. Friday. One hundred years ago, the British government sought to quell the longstanding superstition among seamen that setting sail on Fridays was unlucky. A special ship was commissioned and given the name “H.M.S. Friday.” They laid her keel on a Friday, launched her on a Friday, selected her crew on a Friday, and hired a man named Jim Friday to be her captain. Finally, it was on a Friday that H.M.S. Friday embarked on her maiden voyage — and was never seen or heard from again.
I don’t recall ever seeing the word ‘luck’ in the Bible. Perhaps our fears are self-fulfilling prophecies. Could it be that we bring our own bad luck into our lives? If so, is it possible to bring good luck to our lives by walking in faith?
Maybe Job said it best: “For the thing I greatly feared has come upon me, and what I dreaded has happened to me” (Job 3:25). I’m expecting today to be my lucky day, because God walks with me.
The trees around my house have become barren. All those shade-producing leaves have blown away, exposing the occasional bird’s nest. It appears that my trees have died, but they are very much alive. In the winter, my trees go dormant. All the sap flows back down into the roots, and those active branches that a rest.
Next Spring, however, they come back to life and enter into a very active growth season. The rest is required to gain strength for the work ahead. So it is with each of us. We factor a day of rest into our productive work week. But some of us don’t know how to rest even on that one day. We never give ourselves time to replenish our strength. So, we go right back into the next work week exhausted and can’t figure out why we are not as productive as we used to be.
God has a better way: “Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while” (Mark 6:31).
If our body, soul, and spirit
Are to function at their best,
Time is needed for renewal,
Time for leisure, time for rest.
-D. De Haan
Today we have this huge recycling movement going on in America. But, do you remember what what used to happen to newspapers 60 years ago?
I remember as a child a “Paper Drive”. The High School Junior or Senior Class went all out for a fund-raiser for their class. Someone got a big-rig flatbed semi and drove it down the various blocks of streets in town. The High Schoolers, supervised by teachers, of course, went door-to-door collecting newspapers and magazines. These teens hurriedly carried the load of used papers to the flatbed truck, where they were bundled and stacked. It was all a race for time and those teens worked up a sweat competing with one another. I think they covered the whole town in one night.
When was the last time you witnessed a High School work project that got everyone involved? Perhaps if we attempted that today the kids would stay home and their parents would show up for the work project. I would never propose that we go back to the 1950’s; not going to happen. But perhaps there are some lessons we could learn about society if we consider what has changed and why.
The Apostle Paul made an interesting statement in 2 Thessalonians 3:10: “For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: ‘If a man will not work, he shall not eat’“. Are we teaching them to be lazy, or to be hard workers? What will the next generation do with their lives?
A couple of years ago a father who had robbed a bank got caught. His defense: “I’ve been out of work for weeks and couldn’t feed my family. As a last resort I turned to crime so they could eat.”
Everything hinges on what you turn to as a last resort – not just in the major crises of life, but in little things as well. We can either try the remedies the world has to offer, as this father did, or we can turn to Jesus.
The Bible tells about a woman who turned to Jesus as a last resort: “For twelve years [she] had suffered hemorrhages and had been treated much by physicians…without improving, but rather growing worse. When she heard about Jesus [she] came in the crowd behind Him and touched His robe, for she said, ‘If only I touch His robe, I shall be healed.’ At once…she felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction” (Mark 5:26-29 MLB).
If you don’t turn to Jesus as a first resort, at least come to Him as a last resort. Its never too late.
When a second grade Children’s Church teacher asked students of her class to name the Bible characters they would most like to be, one little boy stood up and said, “I would like to be Moses. He parted the Red Sea.”
A girl on the front row exclaimed, “I’d like to be Mary because she gave birth to Jesus.” The teacher said, “Anyone else want to tell who he would like to be?”
Johnny stood up. “I’d like to be Lo, because in the Bible Jesus says, ‘Lo, I am with you always.'”
Of course, Lo is not a person. Jesus was speaking to each one of us when He said, “Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the world” (Matthew 28:20). No matter what troubles come your way, He promises that He will stay by you and that His Spirit will dwell in your heart to comfort and encourage you.
So, although Jesus didn’t tell Lo that He would be with him, the Apostle Paul did say, “The Lord is at hand” (Philippians 4:5).