What Would You Expect?

My lawn, along with most people’s lawn, has suffered much over the past few years due to the lack of rain. It takes rain to naturally decompose matter into new rich soil, full of nutrients, the natural way to fertilize the old garden. While city water might keep a lawn half way alive, the chlorine and fluoride contained in it have little value and can never replace the nitrogen rich rain water falling from the sky. Well, I decided after thirty years of neglect to help things along last fall by fertilizing my weary lawn, repeating the feeding once during the winter and another application just before the recent rains began. It now looks as though I might wear out all my lawn grooming equipment before the end of summer this year. Like the man says, “Well, what did you expect?” When logic sneaks up on me and slaps me up side the head all I can say is, “Doh!” and move on. It’s been a long time and the rain is very welcome. Praise God!

As they prepared for their final exam in Logic, the college professor offered his students some relief. He told them that they could bring as much information to the exam as they could fit on a piece of notebook paper. Most students crammed as many facts as possible on their 81/2 x 11 inch sheet of paper. One student, named Bob, walked into the exam room, placed a piece of notebook paper on the floor, and had an advanced Logic student stand on the paper. The upper graduate told Bob everything he needed to know, awarding Bob correct answers and the only student to receive an “A”.

If you got in your car and drove in the direction given by a sign that read, “Dallas – 20 Miles”, what would you expect to find after driving twenty miles? * If you passed a sign that warned “Speed Radar Patrolled” and you were driving ten miles an hour over the speed limit when you passed a police cruiser parked on the side of the road, what would you expect to happen? * If you decided to take a class at a local university and the teacher handed out copies of a syllabus that stated there would be a total of three tests in the coming semester, what would you expect? * If you stood before a preacher and a group of witnesses promising to love and remain with the person beside you until one of you died, and both of you were still alive in ten years, what would you expect?

[2Peter 2:20-22] A life insurance salesman was unable to persuade a couple to purchase a policy. “I certainly don’t want to frighten you into a decision,” he said as he got up to leave. “Please, sleep on it tonight, and if you wake up in the morning, call me, and let me know what you think.” If you walked into a place where people claim to worship God according to his word, what would you expect? * If you opened your Bible and read its descriptions of Jesus and the salvation from sins for those who repented and resolved to follow him, what would you expect? * If, like Saul of Tarsus, you were immersed in water so your sins would be washed away (Acts 22:1-16), what would you expect? * If you began meeting regularly with a group of Christians and they promised to welcome you among them as a brother/sister, what would you expect? * If you began living in ways similar to the ways you lived before becoming a Christian and stopped meeting with, and associating with, your brothers and sisters in Christ, what would you expect? * If you continued to live a life that led away from God and his people, and you died in that condition, what would you expect? If you were to die tonight, would you know, without a doubt, where you will spend eternity?

Encouragement

The past two weeks I’ve had a few friends I haven’t seen for some time pop in and out of my life. It was good to see them and converse for a while. We baby-boomers are at the threshold of, or are already, retiring from a life of hard work, most of us earning an honest wage and ready to slow the pace of life a bit. Yes, I’m a Senior Citizen and cringe at the thought of whom I am becoming. I still try to be the life of the party… even if it lasts until 8 p.m. I have become very proficient at opening child-proof caps with my little hammer and water-pump pliers. I’m pretty much ready to go home before I get to where I’m going. I’m generally awake long before my body is ready to get out of bed. I smile a lot more now-a-days because I can’t hear half of what you’re saying. I catch myself telling the same stories over and over and over. People say I’m grouchy, but I don’t think so. I just don’t like traffic, waiting, crowds, lawyers, loud music, unruly kids, Jennie Craig and Toyota commercials, barking dogs, politicians and a few other things I can’t think of at the moment. I’m sure everything I can’t find is in a safe secure place, somewhere. I used to joke, “If I’d known I was going to live this long, I’d have sure enough taken better care of myself” and now I’m discovering the joke is on me. The adage, “Old age ain’t for sissy’s” is coming into view and some serious health maintenance is in order enabling me to press forward without too much pain and gritting my teeth (dentures) all the time. Adults are way too young these days and when did they start allowing kids to become policemen? It’s all down hill now.

All joking aside, life is a wonderful journey set before us by our Creator and hurried along by people sharing the way who take time to encourage our endeavors. “A word of encouragement during a failure is worth more than an hour of praise after success” (Unknown). “Correction does much, but encouragement does more” (Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe). “The finest gift you can give anyone is encouragement. Yet, almost no one gets the encouragement they need to grow to their full potential. If everyone received the encouragement they need to grow, the genius in most everyone would blossom and the world would produce abundance beyond our wildest dreams” (Sidney Madwed). “There are high spots in all of our lives and most of them have come about through encouragement from someone else. I don’t care how great, how famous or successful a man or woman may be, each hungers for applause” (George M. Adams). “Flatter me, and I may not believe you. Criticize me, and I may not like you. Ignore me, and I may not forgive you. Encourage me, and I may not forget you” (William Arthur). “I believe that a man’s life will be filled with constant and unexpected encouragement, if he makes up his mind to do his level best each day, and as nearly as possible reaching the high-water-mark of pure and useful living” (Booker T. Washington). Thanks for yours to me.

[Hebrews 3:12-13] Paul said: “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair…” (2 Corinthians 4:8). The word perplexed means more than just being puzzled. It comes from the Greek word “aporeo” which means “to be at loss with ones self; be in doubt; not to know how to decide or what to do, to be perplexed” (Thayer, 66). One might say it means to be at your wit’s end. Using the Word of God to encourage someone who is perplexed is to help keep them from falling into despair. When folks are desperate - life comes unglued. God is love; God is in control; our glue.

Newness Of Life

This story has been around for some time and research has never produced an author. It’s one of those stories that morph’s into many versions but with the same message in the end. A message of renewal – newness of life. Jeremy was born with a severe disability and some mild intellectual impairment. Although Jeremy was 12 years-old, he was still in second grade at his Christian school. In fact, his teacher, Miss Miller, had repeatedly tried to put Jeremy in a special education class, but the boy’s parents were big on inclusion and they wanted him to stay with his classmates. This frustrated Miss Miller as she had 18 other youngsters to teach. But she prayed and asked God to give her patience. Spring-time came rolling around and also the usual lessons Miss Miller taught about Easter. She explained the story of Jesus to he class; that he died on the cross for our sins and rose from the grave victorious. She then gave the class an assignment. Each child was given a large plastic egg and told to take it home and bring it back the next day with something inside that showed new life. All the children were super enthusiastic, that is except for Jeremy. Miss Miller wasn’t certain Jeremy even understood the assignment. The next morning the children came to school, each talking about the surprise inside their egg. The eggs were all placed in a wicker basket on Miss Miller’s desk. Just before morning recess it was time to open the eggs. In one egg a child had placed a small silk flower, a perfect sign of new life, Miss Miller commented. The next egg contained a little plastic butterfly, which the teacher also commented positively. When Miss Miller opened the next egg she found it empty. Because nothing was in it Miss Miller assumed it was Jeremy’s egg, convinced he must not have understood her instructions for the assignment. Because she did not want to embarrass the disabled boy, she quietly set the egg aside and reached for another. But Jeremy spoke up, “Miss Miller, aren’t you going to talk about my egg?” The teacher replied, “Jeremy honey, your egg is empty.” As she had feared, the class burst into laughter. Undeterred and with the simple wisdom of a child he said, “Yes; but the tomb of Jesus was empty too!” The recess bell rang and while the children ran out into the school yard, Miss Miller went to her desk, quietly sat down and dabbed her tear filled eyes. Here for an entire semester she felt it a waste of time trying to teach that little boy. He was too much of a distraction and the extra attention she had to give him was a heavy burden. But all the while, she can now see, Jeremy possessed an insight to godly things that were far beyond those of his classmates. Three months later, his true health problems, unknown to his teacher or classmates, Jeremy passed away. Those who paid their respects at the funeral home were surprised to see 19 colorful plastic eggs on top of his casket – all of them open, and empty.

[John 20:10-18; Romans 6:3-11; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Ephesians 4:22-24] “…don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come.” Are you prepared for the opening of your own tomb? (John 5:24-30) Are you looking forward to sharing in the resurrection of Christ – to meet your God?