August 26, 2010
Payday is Friday
I was listening to a conversation about instilling work ethics in children when one of the guys told a story about his younger brother. The boy really wanted to buy a BB gun, so his dad told him he could work at the family business. The child got his work assignment along with the instructions that he was to clock in every morning and Friday is payday. Half way through the week the young man calculated that he had enough money for the BB gun. Even though his dad suggested that working a few more days would give him money to buy some extra BB’s, the boy had all the money he needed so he quit. When he asked for his pay the dad said, “Sorry son, payday is Friday.” When payday finally came around the boy went to the store only to discover that he didn’t have enough money because the BB gun was no longer on sale. I can see this same attitude with many believers. People try to put in the minimum investment in the Lord…only what’s needed for salvation.
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Gail;
-----To me, Jesus’ scariest statement was, “On that day many will say to Me, ’Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and cast out demons in Your name, and do many mighty works in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ’I never knew you; depart from Me, you evil doers.” (Mat 7:22-23) I’ve never done any mighty works or cast out demons. I turn yellow in front of more than ten people, so I don’t prophecy. I can’t claim even this level of participation in His kingdom. So what hope is there for me?
-----Actually, a lot. “And it shall be that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Acts 2:21) I certainly call on His name. But haven’t those who will be saying, “But, Lord, Lord?” Since the Lord tells them to depart, obviously not. They are either not calling, or it is not His name they are calling upon. At the heart of the matter, everyone desires salvation of some sort. But the sort of salvation the Lord provides is His sort; it involves participating in His character. If we want that salvation, we have to be interested in His character. That is what calling on His name is.
-----I think the Lord is more than fair to us. He is merciful. None of us invest our entire interest into the Lord‘s character alone. We all, in ourselves, fall short of righteousness. In some ways, we all come to the Lord for the BB gun. But those who will really be given entrance in to the kingdom of heaven, also come to the Lord with some interest in participating in His character, some of us more, and some of us less. What was important to the dad was that his son took some interest in his job, and his paycheck would reflect how much interest he took. What is important to the Lord is that we take some interest in His character, and our salvation will reflect how much interest we took. (I Cor 3:14-15) It is only no interest in His character that equates to no call on His name.
Love you all,
Steve Corey
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