ism through the years has been that the individual who believes in all of these things is the one who has to compromise his beliefs in order to join up with those who do not believe. We would not give up any of our distinctive beliefs for the sake of an unholy union. Q . Tucson, Ariz. — “Quite a few wom en in our department believe in signs. For instance, they say that if you are going to have surgery, it should be done when the signs are right, then you’ll be certain it will be successful. Also, we ivork in a hospital and have learned from the nursery that fewer babies were born in a certain period which they say was probably due to a moon change. While these women are not Christians yet one of them referred to Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 to sub stantiate her theory. As a Christian, I ’m sure this is wrong, but I don’t know any Scripture to use. Can you help me?” A. Such business of signs is entirely wrong and anti-Biblical. Superstition has been defined as the religion of the irreligious. Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 has nothing to do with this subject at all. It simply indicates that in God’s wonderful and reasonable economy there’s a time to be born, a time to die, a time to laugh, a time to weep. We use the same terminology. We say, “This is an auspicious time; this is a favorable time,” etc. There is Scripture, however, which very strongly condemns anyone looking to signs for direction. The children of Israel were so warned. Notice Deu teronomy 18:9. All that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord. They seek entire areas which do not belong to them. Deuteronomy 18:19 tells about a true prophet, who reveals what God wants us to know. This office was ultimately fulfilled in the greatest of all prophets, the Lord Jesus Christ. The more one knows the Bible, the less he needs to go into these signs.
Troubles are tools with which God fashions us for the better. * * * SPEND TIME WISELY Today, unthin the next twenty-four hour8, you’ll have 1,440 minutes at your disposal. Doesn’t it seem strange that with nearly 1500 of them we find it so difficult to take five, ten, twenty, or thirty minutes to spend with the Lord for our own spiritual sustenance and growth? The only way we’ll find ade quate strength to meet the tensions of these times is on our knees through the Book of God. The world, in its despera tion, turns to drink or dreams, but for the Christian there is the assurance of reality. We seem so quickly to forget that prayer is not as a last resort, when all else has failed, like a spiritual S.O.S. To be effective it should become a regu lar part of our daily procedure. Let’s keep in mind that God’s dynamic and power has been given not to be squan dered and misused, but rather to make His truth known to a lost and dying world. In the next 24 hours you will have 1,440 minutes. How many of them will you spend with the Lord and truly take time to be holy? * * * God knows us well but loves us still. * * * THE UNADULTERATED WORD In ancient Greece, as has been true in other areas, contemporary historians of the New Testament write about street merchants who sold inferior wine which had been diluted with water in order to make it go farther. This prac tice is what is known as corrupting, and in fact, our word comes from that deceitful business. These hucksters con tinually cheated their customers. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Paul wrote, “For we are not as many which corrupt the Word of God.” Yes, it is true in a spiritual sense. Great havoc is wrought by those who compromise or “water down” God’s Word. May we follow the exhortations of Scripture to be “looking for and hastening unto the coming of the Lord,” earnestly con tending for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. * * * God never leads any man into an im possible task. 28
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