October 25, 2010
Recycled
I was a care-giver for my sister and it’s now been a year since she passed away. Recently my preacher emailed me asking about a New Testament Bible titled, Finding God that he’d given Shelly. He knew of someone who might benefit from the paperback and he wondered if I still had it, or if he should order a new one. I replied to the email that I still have the book and he is welcome to have it to give to someone else, but sadly it is mint condition. The preacher responded, “Good as new huh – we’ll try again.”
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Gail;
-----“And behold, one came up to him, saying, ‘Teacher, what good deed must I do, to have eternal life?’ And he said to him, ‘Why do you ask me about what is good? One there is who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.’ He said to him, ‘Which?’ And Jesus said, ‘You shall not kill, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ The young man said to him, ‘All these I have observed; what do I still lack?’ Jesus said to him, ‘If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.’ When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful; for he had great possessions.” (Matt 19:16-22) Either this young man’s conscience was bigger than his will to obey, or he sought perfection only for self validation. The main point Jesus made of him was that one must possess nothing standing between himself and Christ for one’s faith to be sincere. The young man evidently had enough sincerity to keep the commandments, but he pressed Jesus for works beyond that faith he sincerely had, which exposed his riches as the flaw in his sincerity. I do not believe just the having of the riches was the flaw, otherwise Joseph of Arimathea would have received the same challenge from Jesus, and thus, would either have not been mentioned as still wealthy at Matt 27:57, or would not have been called a disciple of Christ. But indeed, he was both wealthy and a disciple.
-----I hold reading and studying the Bible to be very important to my life. In fact, I held it to be so important that I spent an amount of time in Bible college learning its origin, history, and manners of delivering its message. But I did not complete the studies there or receive a degree, because I did not assess my faith as extending to the role of ministry. I just wanted what I needed to rightly handle the Word for the living of my life and the raising of my family. I often think that had I pushed for works of faith beyond my sincerity, I may have wrecked as badly as did this young man.
-----Even though I know the benefits of studying His Word, I do not asses others who study it less as falling short. Nor do I assess their faith as less, but rather as leading to other paths of importance. I encounter people who read the Bible far less than I, and yet obey it far more than I. In as much as God calls each of us to our missions and places in this life, He gives each of us measures of faith and gifts for purposes needing performed in those places. I hardly dare to say that any calling requires scant Bible study, but I advocate God’s ability even to make use of such after seeing Him make good use of worse flaws in myself.
Love you all,
Steve Corey
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