Editorial

There is a story about a young boy who was writing to his father who was overseas on a dangerous mission. The little boy wrote, “I hope you will stay alive as long as you live.” What he said may be humorous yet there is a profound truth to be learned from contemplating exactly what he expressed.

It is a sad fact that there are many who are not alive while they live. Jesus knew this for he wrote to the church in Sardis saying “I know thy works, that thou hast a name that you livest, and art dead.” Here were people who had a name of being alive while in fact, Jesus said, they were dead. It is possible for us today to be members of the Sardis ecclesia. Are we staying alive as long as we live or are we the walking dead ?

To be alive is to live for Jesus. Those in Sardis needed to repent, they needed to wake up and live, they needed to watch. Jesus exhorted them to “be watchful” and he warned them that if they did not watch, he would come on them as a thief, and they would not know what hour he would come.

The coming of Jesus is so near at hand, we need to be watching, we need to stay alive and look for him and live for him as long as we live.

God does not expect us to do more than we are capable but he does want us to be all that we are capable of becoming. In sports a manager will remove a player who doesn’t “look alive,” who doesn’t hustle. Jesus commended Mary when his disciples were rebuking her for having as they said, wasted the precious ointment. Jesus said of her, “She hath done what she could.” This is the key, to do what we can. We must each strive to be all that we are capable of becoming, to be alive as long as we live.

God does not ask us to do more than we can but are we, like Mary, doing what we could. Unless we are literally dead, we can stay alive and do what we can. Each of us should be asking ourselves the question, “What can I do ?” The answer has to be something, never nothing, for then we have a name that we are alive but really we are dead.

So let each of us begin today to make a list of things we can do. We can all pray and we can all read. So every day, pray and read the Bible. This we can do.

We can think of others, Mary did that when she anointed Jesus. What can we do for Jesus? We can be kind to other members of his family. Who is sick? Write or phone them. Perhaps we are sick ourselves but the best way of getting over what’s ailing us is to begin to care for others and we soon become so busy we forget how poorly we felt.

It will be amazing how many things we can think to do, when we begin to think. That’s the difference between the dead and the living, the living can think and do and if we are to be alive as long as we live, then we need to be thinking all the time, “What can I do?” The more we ask this question, the more things we will think to do and the more we do the more we approach our goal of being all that we are capable of becoming.

Not everyone in Sardis had a name that they lived but were dead, for Jesus tells us that there were a few who were alive and they were walking. That’s what living people do, they move . . . they do . . . they live for Jesus and Jesus will soon call them to walk with him into the kingdom for they will be worthy.

We cannot start sooner than right now so let us begin today to make our list of things we can do and then begin immediately to do them, so that we will stay alive as long as we live and then we will be all that we are capable of becoming. When Jesus comes he will be pleased with us and will invite us to live forever with him in his kingdom for we, like Mary of old, will, have done what we could.

The basketball season has just drawn to a close and the Los Angeles Lakers are the NBA champions after defeating the Philadelphia Seventy-Sixers in a high spirited series. Both teams had their super stars who played true championship basketball. Quite often the outcome of an important basketball game is decided at the free throw line.

There are a lot of parallels that can be drawn between a basketball star throwing free throws and a servant of Christ walking in the way of the Truth.

In basketball the athlete must take his position at the free throw line. He must make his stand, positioning himself in the center and get set. Paul tells us that we should “stand fast in the Lord.” Both the athlete and the follower of Jesus must be willing to stand fast, to make their position known and be prepared to take their place at the line. The pressure may be tremendous. A true champion will not wilt.

After taking a position at the line, the next thing to do is to focus on the goal. The goal is all important. It requires great concentration to do this while the crowd is roaring, the opposition trying to distract, and the score tied.

As a follower of Christ we too must keep our goal firmly in mind at all times. Our enemies will try to distract us and cause us to stumble but we must keep our eyes on Jesus. We remember that Peter walked on the water as long as he looked to Jesus but when he looked away and saw the wind boisterous, he began to sink. This was the way that Jesus was able to endure the cross. We are told that “for the joy set before him he endured the cross.”

The athlete with his eye on the goal now with controlled execution tosses the ball towards the hoop with just the right amount of back spin so that the ball will drop safely through the hoop. He has practiced doing this a thousand times so that when he is called upon to do it in a game he will be able to do it with an almost automatic reflex. Again, the follower of Christ must constantly practice living the Christ-like life so that when he is tried, he will be able to respond in the right way, saying and doing the right things. It will be too late to learn how to live the Truth when temptation and trial rear their ugly heads. Constant practice has to be the way to live, day in and day out and then in the days of adversity, we will respond in the right way.

Even after the ball has left the athlete’s hands, he follows through. Follow through is essential in all sports as well as in the walk of a true follower of Jesus. We don’t just toss the ball, we follow through; we don’t just talk the truth, we follow through; we don’t just get someone interested in our beliefs, we follow through. Even after we have been successful in helping another of Adam’s race put on the name of Jesus in baptism, we don’t drop them there, we follow through. They need additional help and encouragement, we must not abandon a newborn babe, we follow through. We need to be well balanced in every phase of our living and this frequently marks off the champion in sports from the novice. Everyone from about the age of 10 can sometimes make the basket from the free throw line but the stars do it consistently.

Let us practice our faith every day so that when the pressure is on we will be able to come through for the Lord. Paul in speaking of the athletes of his day said, “now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible” Let us be as dedicated to our goal as the athlete is to his for we shall win if we faint not.

Benjamin Franklin once said, “The man who does things makes many mistakes, but he doesn’t make the biggest mistake of all– doing nothing.”

One sees this demonstrated every day in the business world. We know a man who would fit the “milk toast” description perfectly. He is so scared that he might do something wrong that he rarely does anything right either. Although he has been with the same company for years, lie still has one of the lowest paid positions in the company simply because he is so afraid of making a mistake, lie can’t be trusted with any responsibility at all. Another person we know is a young woman in her early thirties and she has risen to a position of top management in her company simply because she is not afraid to make a decision and do things. Only recently she said, “I know that I am not always right, but I am trying, and I am willing to stick my neck out.”

This reminded us of the story of the turtle. It is said that a turtle never gets anywhere until he sticks his neck out. As long as he keeps his head tucked under his shell he just stays in one place. There are people like that, hiding under their shell and never doing anything.

As brothers and sisters of the Lord Jesus Christ, God is counting on us to do His work on this planet. So far as we know, He has no one else to do it but us. He called us. He picked us. How could we have the audacity to in essence say to Almighty God. “You picked me all right, but you made a mistake when you chose me. I have no talents, no abilities, there is nothing I can do for you, Lord. We know that an employer would not think well of that negative attitude, yet we hear brethren and sisters say “no” when asked to do service in the Lord’s vineyard. There are even some who carry this so far that they refuse to be baptized simply because they say that they could never live it.

Of course we can! But we can’t if we won’t try. God realizes that we will make mistakes, that is why He has provided a savior in His son, Jesus Christ our Lord, and in prayer Jesus taught us to ask for forgiveness for our sins. It is better to be trying and doing things and have some sins of commission to be forgiven than to sit idly by and have only one sin and that one sin a big-do-nothing, the sin of omission. The one condemned by his master in the Lord’s parable was the one who took his talent and hid it in the earth and sat back and did nothing.

We frequently say that all things are possible with God and this is true and it is a quote from the Lord Jesus Christ, but there is in a sense something that God cannot do. He cannot remember our good works that we never did. He cannot even recall our baptism that never took place. What we do each day is being recorded and we will have to answer to our Lord for what we did. Some seem to think that they have a clean tape because it is a blank tape.

Just what do we do each day, simply because we belong to Jesus? Many of the things we do every day we would do even if we did not belong to him. At the end of the day we are well advised to stop a minute and review the activities of the day. What did we do today for Jesus? If we can’t think of anything, that surely is telling us something isn’t it? Will tomorrow be different? It can be but it won’t be unless we decide to make it different by consciously planning to do things simply because of our love for our Lord.

The last page of the Old Testament tells us that “the LORD hearkened and heard” when He found those who were thinking and doing for Him. He had just condemned those who were robbing God by doing nothing. A book of remembrance is being written for those “that feared the LORD, and that thought upon His name. And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels.”

There is an old song that says into each life some rain must fall but too much is falling into mine.” It is raining now and has been for days; the flu and a relapse have put our mood and the weather in perfect harmony.

It is sometimes hard to remember that it is the rain that brings the flowers. In the song the rain represents the trials and tribulations of life, and the author is complaining that he has received too much trouble. This cannot happen to us. God will never allow us to receive too much rain. Whatever comes is allowed by God and He knows best what we need. There is a great deal of comfort for those who really believe this. It is purely a lack of faith to agree with the sentiments of the song. When the rain begins to fall in our lives the natural thing is to feel sorry for ourselves. Actually self pity is one of the worst forms of egotism. In order to feel sorry for oneself one must be thinking only of self.

God wants us to forget ourselves and think of others. When we fill our minds with loving thoughts for others and think of their needs, we automatically forget about ourselves.

We know that God sends the rain, and we are thankful that He is in control of the weather. The same God that is in control of the weather is also watching over us, and Jesus reminded us, “are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.” Jesus then comforts us with the fact that we “are of more value than many sparrows.”

Believing this we can declare with Paul, “Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities.” To the Romans Paul wrote, “we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts.”

While the trial is going on, it is not a joy but grievous. It is only afterward that it “yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness.” Even though the trial seems difficult, it is so much easier to bear when we truly believe that all things really are working together for our good. In order to stay buoyant in the face of adversity we need to continually remind ourselves that our lives are “hid with Christ in God.”

If this is true, and it really is, then we can have a heart to heart talk with ourselves as David did when he was discouraged. He asked and answered the question, “Why art thou cast down 0 my soul,? and why are thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.”

We are certainly not the first nor the last to feel discouraged. The answer is to hope in God. He cares, He knows, He has promised never to try us beyond that which we are able to bear but will always with the trial provide the way of escape that we may be able to bear it. Bearing it often means to simply grit our teeth and hang on, patiently waiting for God’s deliverance.

For some, the deliverance may not come until the return of Christ or falling asleep, but even this can be accepted when we view our troubles as “our light affliction which is but for a moment, which worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” Paul looked forward to the “crown of righteousness which was laid up for him.” When we believe that there is a crown of glory waiting for us, too, then we can accept with thanksgiving whatever the Lord in His love sends our way. Like Job, our trial may pass, but whether it does or not, we know that the Lord will bless our latter end more than our beginning and soon God will wipe away all tears from our eyes, and there shall, be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.”

With this hope we can say, let it rain, let it rain, for soon we shall shine as the brightness of the firmament . . . and as the stars for ever and ever.”

Winter is on the way. Summer is on the way. Both statements are correct. It all depends whether or not one lives above or below the equator. There is one thing we do know for God has declared that “while the earth remaineth, seed time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.”

In one of our hymns we sing, “Change is our portion now.” Everything about us is changing, the seasons come and go, the sun rises every morning and sets every evening. We are use to these changes yet changes come so slowly that we cannot observe them with the eye. We can stare at the hour hand of our watch and never see it move, yet it does. We may say that our children are growing like weeds, yet we cannot see them grow, nor can we sit in our garden and watch the weeds grow.

How do we measure changes that come so slowly that we cannot see them with our eyes ? More importantly, how do we direct our lives so that the changes that take place, though they may take place so slowly that we cannot see them, are for better and not for worse. We are changing even if we can’t see it. It is happening and we need to make sure that w are changing in the right direction.

The way to measure change that comes slowly is to measure where we are now in comparison to where we were six months or a year ago. Some parents make a mark with the date along side of it on the back of a door to measure the growth of their children over a period of time. How can we measure our spiritual growth? How can we be sure that we are growing in the truth? How do we know if our faith is stronger or weaker then it was this time last year?

We can each give ourselves a little test. We can ask ourselves three questions to mark our progress, if any, during the last six months to a year. What do we know about living the truth today that we did not know just a year ago ? What have we learned about understanding the truth that we did not know just a year ago? What have we learned about teaching the truth to others that we did not know just a year ago? If we have trouble answering these questions in a positive way, then that is telling us something. If there is no measurable change in these things in the last year, will there be in the next? If we cannot see any spiritual growth in these directions in the last year, what makes us think there will be some in the next year unless we consciously begin a program of positive change in the right direction.

In order to grow in the right direction, we need to consciously set ourselves goals that will lead us in the right direction. There are some things that we can do that will help us grow in those three ways all at once. For example, more faithful Bible reading will help us live the truth, will help us understand the truth and will help us know how to teach it to others. If we don’t understand something we certainly cannot teach it to others and it is very hard to teach the truth if we are not personally living it. So more concentrated Bible study will certainly be a way to help us grow. In addition to the daily Bible readings, why not pick a Book of the Bible to study in depth. There are many teaching aids in the ecclesial libraries. Pick a book, pick a virtue such as love or peace, hope or joy, pick a person such as Paul, Nehemiah, or Peter and really get to know them. It will affect our lives, our thinking, for the better.

If our right arm is no stronger this year than it was last year, it is because we have not gone on an exercise program to build up the muscles in our right arm. It will not get stronger until we decide to do something. The same is true of our spiritual strength. We are changing, like it or not. Let us make sure that we are growing stronger in the faith and closer to God.

Just recently in our daily readings we heard God say to King Asa, “The LORD is with you, while ye be with him; and if ye seek him, he will be found of you; but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you.” Let’s hope we did not miss doing our readings that day for that is a powerful lesson we would not want to miss. It is as true today as it was when the king first heard it. Let us each resolve that we will seek Him. If we do, we will find Him for that is His promise to us.