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UNDERSTAND
By
Doug Post
Aug
1,
2004
When I was in the 3rd grade,
we learned the multiplication tables. When different answers arose as we
studied the same math problem, the teacher did not say, "You
all understand - you
just understand in different ways. Why
not? Because some of the children obviously did not comprehend the truth
- they
misunderstood. Our answers were not unified. Four times four (4 x 4)
could not equal 16 AND 18. Any answer other than 16 was not acceptable
because it was not correct.
Likewise, when we encounter differences in religious teaching
today, it is not that we all understand God's Word, only in different
ways. Rather, people have either chosen to disregard what the Bible
says, or they have misunderstood what it teaches. When one person says a
verse means one thing, and another says it means something else
entirely, both cannot be right.
In Ephesians 5:17 the Bible says, II Therefore
do not be unwise, but understand what the wi/I of the Lord is.1I Can
four times four equal 16 and 18?
Think
about it.
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Weeds
or
Strawberries?
By Doug Post
A
close acquaintance once remarked to Samuel Coleridge, the noted
Englishman of the early 19th century,
about his infant son of
whom he was So proud, "I don't intend to teach my son anYthing
about God I will let
him grow up, and when he is old enough to judge
for himself, he can choose whether to believe or not."
As the two men walked together, they paused at the site of Mr.
Coleridge's garden. Samuel spoke, "I had thought about setting
out some strawberry plants this spring, but you have given me an idea.
I,think I'll wait until about mid-summer and see whether the garden
would prefer the strawberry plants or weeds." II But, Samuel," intervened the friend, II
by then the weeds will have taken over,' you can 't
afford to wait."
Then
thoughtfully, Mr. Coleridge looked his friend in the eye and replied,
II Yes, you are
right about that. And in like manner, so also w1'l/ the
weeds of doubt and unbelief take over the mind of your son in due time
unless you start teaching him now that there is a God, and thatJesus is
God's Son."
Why can't Christian
parents seem to grasp that simple truth?
The time to set out the strawberry plants is before the weeds have taken
over the garden area. And the time to train a child about God, about
Jesus, and the way of righteousness is NOW! While little minds are
receptive and pliable.
One of the greatest tragedies of our time is that the church and
Christian parents, are losing so many of our young people!
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...Heart
By Doug Post
Richard C. Haverson once wrote, "You're going to
meet an old man some day. He may be a seasoned, soft, gracious fellow,
a gentleman that has grown old gracefully, surrounded by a host of
friends. He may be a bitter, disillusioned, dried-up, cynical man,
without a good word for anybody, soured, friendless and alone. The
kind of old man you meet depends entirely on yourself. Because that
old man will be you. He'll be the composite of everything you do, say,
think, today, tomorrow. His heart will be turning out what you've been
putting in."
The Bible says, "Keep your heart with all
diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life' (Proverbs
4:23). Unless you die today, you will be an older person tomorrow.
When you meet that older person tomorrow, will you be proud to make
his/her acquaintance?
IN ALL THINGS, TO
GOD BE THE GLORYI
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At
Our Best
by Doug Post
A great movie line comes from the movie Starman. Sitting in a coffee shop, the
alien looks across the table at the human and says, II
Do you know what we
find the most beautiful about you? You are at your
best when things are at their worst.
We have only to look at the lives of the early Christians to find
examples of being at our best during difficult situations. Peter and
John, after spending the night in jail, were being threatened by the
Jewish priests and elders. But they proclaimed, II
we cannot but speak the
things which we have seen and heard' (Acts 4:20). Stephen who lay dying, cried to the Lord lido not charge them
with this sin' (Acts 7:60). Paul
and Silas faced their IIworstll by praying and singing hymns to God (Acts
16:25), and gave up
their chance of escape to save a Philippian jailer and his family.
What causes a man or woman to stand calmly in the face of death? How
many ordinary people have you seen become extraordinary dealing with
disease or disaster? How many otherwise weak people have stood up to
face unspeakable horrors for the sake of family, or friends, or God?
How much of our character have we inherited from our Creator, who when
His moment of truth came, bowed to the will of the Father? Jesus,
while hanging on a cross, pushed upwards against the nails driven into
his feet for enough air to cry, II
Father, forgive
thetrl' (Luke 23:34).
We live in a troubled world. Who knows what the future holds for the
Christian. Let us pray that when the trouble comes, we also will be at
our best.
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