December 15, 2014
Be Filled
The church I visited Sunday
has had an interim pastor for a few months and the search committee, as well as
the man the Lord has in mind for the pulpit, were on the prayer request list. Although
nothing was said, I had the sense that the church may have lost some members when
the previous pastor retired. As a visitor I arrived 15 minutes early, sat
through the worship service, and took my time exiting the church. The 80 people
present were visiting before and after the service, but only one man nodded in my
direction as he took the seat in front of me. Beyond that, no one else made eye
contact or spoke to me. I was somewhat conflicted when the pastor prayed for
the church, “That this house of worship would be filled.” Certainly the Lord
can answer their prayer, but I wonder if He expects a little help from the
faithful. “By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is
established; through knowledge its rooms are filled with rare and
beautiful treasures” (Proverbs 24:3-4 NIV).
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1 comment:
Gail;
-----We must never forget Isaiah 42:3, “A bruised reed He will not break, and a dimly burning wick He will not quench.” Every one of us are bruised somewhere. Though some of us appear to burn quite brightly, when viewed beside what Jesus was during His mortal time on earth, we all smolder more than burn. Though we acknowledge great works done by some, none of us do as much as we could. This verse is one of the most tender in the Scriptures, at least in my estimation. That the reed is bruised does not diminish it in the Lord’s estimation. That the wick barely smolders does not condemn it. Quite the opposite, that the reed is yet a reed while bruised and the wick hangs on determinedly to its slightest spark, persevering in the face of not only difficulty and confusion, but even in the face of those caused by our own failures and errors, arouses His compassion and strengthens His faithful resolve. The more frail is His beloved, the tighter is His grasp.
-----Of course it behooves bruised reeds and smoldering wicks to ice-pack the bruising and fan godly flames. Doing so alleviates consequences of those conditions. But God’s outright rejection of someone is not a consequence of bruising or smoldering. It is a consequence of the reed being truly a weed, or of a wick being no more than dry ash.
Love you all,
Steve Corey
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