prisoner might have a menu which would make us envious because we couldn’t afford such food. From the standpoint of what was to happen af ter the meal, no one in his right mind would be anxious to take his place. This is what David is saying. We ought not to relish being in the place of a sinner in order to have all the PRAYER FOR OUR CHURCH Lord bless our church and keep it free from bitterness and strife; Teach us to lift our eyes to Thee, the Way, the Truth, the Life. The way is not an easy path, its chal lenge is the cross But we must follow all the way and count it gain not loss. Our church is not a building, Lord, that's made of brick or stone, Its fellowship goes round the world, we do not work alone. The gifts we give to heal the sick, to help the blind to see. To feed the hungry, clothe the poor, we give them all to Thee. Bless all our homes and help us grow in wisdom, Lord, each day; May peace and love and harmony abide with us, we pray. May each of us at home or school, in office, shop or store, Bear witness to our trust In Thee and strive to serve Thee more. Teach me to live my faith each day that others seeing me May know from whom my help has come and turn their thoughts to Thee. For peace on earth I dare not pray until my heart is free From selfishness and greed, dear Lord, let peace begin with me. material wealth which may be his for a moment. He perhaps has obtained it at the price of his eternal soul. We need to learn to be content. Now that doesn’t mean that we can’t at tain financial success if we have the abilities and are given the opportuni ties. But the reason you and I do not have more “things” is simply because we are not worthy of them. Why
should God trust us with more money to waste if we can’t handle that which we now have? God never wastes His grace. He is very efficient. Though we are to witness to the lost, we are not to identify ourselves with them or become a party to their mischief. When we do this we lose the opportunity to be true witnesses for the Lord. At the beginning of my ministry, I was a pastor of a relative ly poor church. It had been the cus tom for the local coal dealer to give coal free of charge to us. (He wrote it off on his income tax.) I went to him one day and said, “Mr. McLaughlin, we appreciate very, very much what you have done for our church in providing coal over the years. I am the new pastor here and want to personally express my appre ciation for it. But you know, I don’t think we should take the coal. We are willing to pay for it. If you want to give it to us at cost, well and good. I don’t think, however, that we should take it from you ‘gratis.’ ” He wanted to know why I felt that way. I said, “This puts us under obli gation to you. It doesn’t give me the liberty to tell you that you’re going to hell if you don’t know the Lord Jesus as your Saviour. It just isn’t good etiquette to tell a person he’s going to hell who has given you coal for ten years.” “Oh,” he said, “I see your point.” Churches ought not always to try to get things for nothing, or to con stantly ask for special “deals.” We ought to keep our testimony clear and free. Only then will we be in a posi tion to give a good and uncompromis ing witness for the Lord. When we learn to manage the grace God has given us, He will extend more. All we need to do is to walk with Him, to obey Him, and to do that which is pleasing to Him. He will put greater trusts and greater opportunities in our way for, “the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord.” * * * The more the church becomes like the world, the less respect the world has for the church. 28
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