FIRE FROM THE ALTAR Customs of the ancient world are interesting to study, and often direct spiritual lessons may be gained. For instance, in the Roman temple of Vesta, a continual fire was kept burn ing. If for any reason'it went out, all public and private business immedi ately came to a stop. It was not re sumed until the fire was burning again. Drawing on this illustration, prophets of old remind us that those who serve God must keep the fire of the Spirit burning in their souls. Again, the old Roman empire, with its mighty army, never crossed its na tional frontier for battle without carry ing an altar upon which fire, originally taken from the altar of Vesta, was kept constantly burning. How can we, in any less sense, as a part of the army of God, expect to be victorious and con quer for the Lord, if we permit the fire of the Holy Spirit to go out on the altar of our hearts? How we need to h e e d the Biblical exhortation, “Quench not the Spirit of God!” FED UP WITH LIFE The Minneapolis Star-Journal car ried an interesting account of a 55 year old New Jersey man who had offered himself as a substitute for a soldier who was in Japan under sentence of death. The serviceman had killed two people in Osaka. Writing to the condemned morís parents t h e volunteer said, “Please don’t consider me a crank. Hon estly, I am so disgusted w ith life that I see no reason for going on. If you can possibly arrange it with the authorities, then without obligation, I can ever so willing to trade places w ith your son.” Naturally, there was no such provision of the law possible; the soldier had to pay for his own misdeeds. The offer of the New Jersey man might be con sidered by some a noble gesture, but
actually it was merely a means of sui cide. Such an illustration can hardly be compared with the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. He was not “fed up with life;” He knew it in its fullest. The Bible says that while He was rich, yet for our sakes He became poor, that we through His poverty might be rich. There was One who was willing to die in my stead, That a soul so unworthy might live; And the path to the cross, He was willing to tread, A ll the sins of my life to forgive. WHAT DO YOU READ It was Marcus Dodds who said, “Show me what a man reads, and I’ll tell you what kind of a man he is.” Government reports indicate that the vast majority of people in our nation have never once r e a d one single book all the way through. “People can’t be bothered to read for the betterment of their own standing,”one psychologist pointed out. “They simply want pic tures; they want to be entertained.” A preacher was calling on certain homes in his community, inviting peo ple to the weekly services. One home he entered carried a very sanctimoni ous air, as far as the manner in which the father spoke. He tried to impress the minister with his knowledge of the Scriptures. Wanting to show the pastor how 'well he knew the Bible, he turned to one of his young children and very piously said, “Son, go bring me that old book your daddy loves so well.” Soon, to his chagrin and the pastor’s amusement, the lad returned, carrying a copy of the Sears Roebuck catalog. If we were to ask our children to bring us that which we love so well, what would they fetch? The newspaper, TV, hobby magazine, or something else of this world? 12
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