Shade Tree Wisdom 5/6/08

é, Isn’t that nice. Use the number pad, hold down the alt key and type 0233 and that figure appears, see, é.

Well, we had such a nice rain, a blessed rain. It rained steadily for more than 12 hours and brought three and a half inches of rain. What a rich thing this is. And the earth did need it. And so the walking this morning was refreshing, rain-washed air, brisk and energizing, and conducive to thought.

What sparked this particular line of thinking was the devotion on Mark 13, 21-23 where Jesus warns against false teachers. MSG gives us this: 21 "If anyone tries to flag you down, calling out, 'Here's the Messiah!' or points, 'There he is!' don't fall for it. 22 Fake Messiahs and lying preachers are going to pop up everywhere. Their impressive credentials and dazzling performances will pull the wool over the eyes of even those who ought to know better. 23 So watch out. I've given you fair warning.”

It’s happening all the time, and in our day of much and rapid change it becomes essential to be watchful. Fortune magazine recently asked 19 business leaders for the best advice they ever got and one, Tony Robbins, said when he was 19 a friend told him, “You have to stand guard at the door of your mind”.

That is just what the Bible advises. “My heart is set on keeping your decrees to the very end”. Ps. 119,112, He asked, ‘How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your Word”. V.9, and this word is, “Your Word have I hidden in my heart, that I may not sin against you”. V.11. And you all memorized v. 109 of Psalm 119 about His Word as light and guide. There’s our help. There is our standard. There is the light we walk by and live by.

While the Children of Israel were in the wilderness, led by Moses under God, their daily food was manna, the same day after day. Now listen to this, “And the rabble with them began to crave other food, and again the Israelites started wailing and said, ‘if only we had other food to eat’.” Numbers 11,4. That RABBLE refers to hangers-on, people who were not of them, but had opted to come along. And they were the ones who started the grumbling.

The news reported that hackers got into the system at one school and changed the grades of some 60 pupils. I suppose that goes on everywhere. But that is what rabbles does, and that is often where the great danger lies. From areas we do not suspect, or we might think that’s cute, or people we thought were friends, and that is when the advice is, “Stand guard at the door of your mind”. Use the Word you know, refresh your mind daily with it. And “having done all, so stand’.

As I said, we are living in a day of rapid change. But this remains the same, “Thy Word endures to the end”. Learn to trust that Word, and use it as your standard, your guide, it will never mislead you, and in following it, you gain God’s rich blessing.

GPD 5/6/08