tian operation, as good and as worth while as that may be. It’s not how many Christian books we read, or even how many people we talk to about the Lord. Our main respon sibility is our own individual rela tionship and communion with the Lord Jesus Christ. “Study to show thyself approved.” Try hard to make yourself worthy of God’s approval. Consider all of the things men will do, trying to show off their abili ties before their fellow men. It should be our first aim that we desire above all else to win God’s approval. In the final analysis, it’s not the admiration of the crowd, but God’s recognition that really will count. In II Corinthians 13:5 we are told to “Examine yourself, whether ye be in the fa ith ; prove your own selves.” This means to study the Word of God in order to determine your rela tionship to the Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, “Study to show thyself approved unto God.” Dr. Karl Menninger, the famous physician-psychiatrist whose genius in the field of medicine and mental health has been so significant, has pointed out something most percep tive in this area. He says, “The deep- down desire to stand well with our fellows, the laudable hunger to win the public’s ‘Well done, good and faithful servant,’ is inherent in every human soul.” Having read this state ment in a publication, I got on the phone and called a friend of mine who is a Christian psychologist. My question to him was, “Just how im portant to man’s mental make-up is this matter of approval ?” He quickly explained, “Well, probably there’s nothing so important in man’s men tal make-up than approval. He wants to be accepted by others, no matter what his age.” He continued, “You know, when we counsel with individ uals, we look for five basic things; fear, guilt, hate, inferiority, and in security.” His explanation was, “All of these things are actually related
A preacher should tell his people how to get on, and not when to get off!
COGS An untrained eye could never have seen Where a little cog wheel in a great machine Was whirling around at a rapid pace— Until it came loose and fell from its place; But soon as the cog to the floor did drop, The machine slowed down and came to a stop, For it, with its balance all askew, Could not do the work it was meant to do. You may be a cog in a big machine. And feel that your labor’s unnoticed, unseen, That the part you play is so very small, You might just as well not be there at all; But just call to mind that, in God's great plan, There's a place for every woman and man, That if you drop out, (your duty forsake), Another cog then your place must take. The out-of-place cog, its usefulness lost, Like a masterless life, with the scrap may be tossed, But if it’s restored to the place it had been, A new round of service it then may begin; In doing its part, no matter how small, Finds a small place better than none at all; And you’ll learn, if you stick and see the task through, That you must do the work that is yours to do.
Pride often builds the nest In which poverty hatches its sorrows. 7
Made with FlippingBook Online document