Think Extra Hard

 

It seems to get harder all the time to differentiate between what is truth and what is manufactured truth. Propaganda repeated enough becomes truth if one allows it to usurp what they know to be real and truthful. One must pay strict attention to what is being taught, think for themselves, and most of all not get distracted by all the silly nonsensical rhetoric being perpetrated to reconfigure the societies of the world. Distractions are even common in worship. The following story (author unknown) reminds us that in worship we encounter both the marvelous and the mundane. What we get out of worship very much depends on what we put into it. “As a youth I squirmed through many a worship service. This particular Sunday was to have an added attraction. As soon as the preacher got up to deliver his sermon, a cricket walked out onto the stage. Everyone in the first three rows, mostly youngsters, saw the cricket. He looked dazed, perhaps from the pest control chemicals, and stumbled near the edge of the pulpit area. Our eyes followed his every step. As he pondered the precipice before him, I knew we were all shouting to ourselves, “Jump! Jump!” But alas, the cricket didn’t jump. The cricket just kept walking back and forth on the edge of the stage. I don’t know if the sermon was any good that day, but the cricket was sure fun to watch. When the invitation song began, we all stood up and the cricket ran away. He almost got stepped on by the song leader and we all laughed. Then my laughter turned to amazement. Someone had gone forward! My dad! He wasn’t a Christian and my mom and I had been trying for years to get him to come to worship with us to no avail, until today. Now the preacher was about to baptize him into Christ. “Dad,” I asked latter. “What made you want to be baptized today?” Dad asked me, “Didn’t you hear that Jesus gave His life for us so that we could be saved?” I hung my head in shame. The beautiful message of the Bible, God’s Word, did not reach me that day. I had allowed myself to be entertained watching the cricket. To this day I believe that cricket was preaching to me. He was saying, “Watch me! Jesus isn’t important. I’m more fun!” Since then, there have been many more crickets walk across the stage, fretful babies, sneezes, coughs, etc. A lot of things that tend to distract a person from worshipping, but I learned my lesson – God is more important than anything. Every time God’s Word is preached the devil is nearby! He is there to steal it away and lie to you (John 8:42-47).”

[James 5:1-12] A Bible professor took a group of students to the “Holy Land.” While traveling on a bus throughout the area one day, the professor prepared the students for their next lesson. Standing in the isle of the bus he was telling the students about Jesus being the Good Shepherd. He told them how shepherds in Palestine, as in Jesus’ day, still lead the sheep rather than drive them like cattle from behind. Just as he was making his point, the bus stopped to allow some sheep to cross the road. To their surprise, the students and their professor witnessed a man with a whip driving the sheep from behind. The prof got off the bus totally confused and asked the man, “My friend, I was always told that shepherds of the region always lead their sheep to where they were going. They do not drive them as you are doing.” The man responded, “You are absolutely right about the shepherds of this country. But see, I’m not a shepherd – I’m the village butcher.”

The thing that sets human beings apart from the rest of creation is the ability to think, reason, and act, using obtained knowledge of what works and what doesn’t work. Think about your future. If one could have the whole world, you’re still going to die. Think; are you truly being led to green pastures or are you being driven into Babylonian captivity?