Return To Me, Says The Lord

 

“The Dog and the Shadow” an Æsop Fable. “It happened that a dog had gotten a piece of meat and was carrying it home in his mouth to eat it in peace. Now on his way home he had to cross a plank lying across a running brook. As he crossed, he looked down and saw his own shadow reflected in the water beneath. Thinking it was another dog with another piece of meat, he made up his mind to have that also. So, he made a snap at the shadow in the water, but as he opened his mouth the piece of meat fell out, dropped into the water and was never seen more.” The moral of the story: Beware lest you lose the substance by grasping at the shadow.

Andrew Corey, the self-proclaimed “Human Fly,” was attempting to climb the outside wall of the New Howard Hotel in Baltimore, Maryland. It was April 23, 1921, and he was doing this to raise money for the Pentecostal Orphanage. He climbed easily to the sixth floor, and as thousands of spectators watched, he reached for what looked like a gray piece of stone near a cornice. He gambled all his weight and safety on it as he stretched upward, but suddenly he plummeted to his death on the concrete below. When investigators opened his clinched hand, they found, ironically, a spider’s web. He had gambled his life on a piece of dry froth. Life is serious business. Do not gamble your soul on earthly froth. Secure your soul by pursuing spiritual treasure found in God’s Word. Sin weaves a web of deceit that makes us think we have something solid to hang onto as we try to climb upward, but a spider’s web will not support you. One needs something more substantial, like the firm foundation of Jesus’ teachings. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life… (1 Timothy 6:11-16)

A little boy was given two quarters – one for the Lord on Sunday and one for some candy. He put the two quarters in his pocket and went outside to play. When he came back into the house, he reached deep into his pocket and found that one of the quarters was gone. “Oh my!” he said, “I’ve lost the Lord’s quarter!” Isn’t that the way it is with many of us? When we have all our needs, and all our wants taken care of the Lord gets what’s left over. But think about it. Would God want leftovers? Will He be happy with your scraps? God has blessed us abundantly with possessions and talents. Honor the Lord with your possessions, And with the first fruits of all your increase; (Proverbs 3:9).

[Zechariah 1:3] Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Return to me,” says the Lord of hosts, “and I will return to you’” says the Lord of hosts.’ When a storm devastates a neighborhood, a drunk driver destroys an entire family, or a shooter kills unsuspecting children, someone is sure to cry, “Where was God when this happened?” Zechariah might have answered, “Where were you when God wanted to bless you?” Many seem to live as if they consider God were their servant – a miracle worker to be on hand when troubles mount, and out of sight when life is running smoothly. But God …is not far from each one of us; (Acts 17:26-28). His evidence is in the sky, the trees and the flowers, the air we breathe, the water we drink and the food we eat. And every evidence of Him calls us to seek Him and to know Him. When we find Him in the Book which He has given us, we are taught to respect, worship and serve Him. How can we recognize the existence and power that created the earth and sustains our lives with air, food, and water, and still think He is only at our beck and call? Mother said we could have dessert only after we ate all our vegetables. We may not have liked it, but we understood it. Shouldn’t we also believe and obey God when he calls us to turn to Him so He can bless us?