Parables C M U &
over som e th in g worth excitement. Vance Havner rightly pointed out, “I ’d rather try to go tone down a fanatic than to wake up a corpse.” Either ex treme is dangerous, but one has only to move among thousands of church members, playing around with a lot of meetings and suppers, and some times dry study courses, to realize how urgently the church needs to get really on fire for the genuine issues of the Gospel. Worn out with other things, we’re too exhausted to rise to do real business with and for God. I t’s true that there a/re many different capaci ties, and we must work within certain limitations. Yet there is still a need to learn that the rest our Saviour gives is not one of slothfulness but rather the inner peace and satisfaction, mak ing us fit for outward service. P OW E R OF C O N S C IE N C E Laws have an interesting way of changing over the years. This is evi denced not only in our own country but also around the world. It used to be that over in Scotland, the land of my father’s ancestry, sheep-stealing was a capital offense. Anyone appre hended for this crime would be put to death. A farmer complained of his loss of animals, so two officers were placed in the bushes to scout for the Separate the needy from the greedy, and any poverty program will work.
K E Y E D U P F O R GOD Nothing is probably more of a trade mark of this stomach-ulcer-aspirin age than the need for relaxation. Every body is looking for a rest. Some try to take a vacation but when they return home, they need time to readjust to the vacation. This is one reason for the success of best sellers on the subject of peace of mind, peace of heart, and peace of soul. Books on how to relax, how to let go, how to go to sleep are always popular. In such a feverish age, doubtless we need to make much of peace with God as well as enjoying the peace of God. These are commodities the world cannot give. But in actuality, rest and repose are only half of Chris tian experience. There are some in stances when we need a sanctified ten sion. The relaxed violin string makes poor music. Our Lord was said to be beside Himself and the believers at Pentecost were thought to be drunk with new wine. Paul impresses nobody as a glorified vacationist. We need a sanctified “keying up” by the Spirit of God. Too many people are all “wound up” in the flesh. They are fit to explode at any moment with repressed wor ries, doubts, fears. We must not mis take nervous energy for the fulness of the Spirit. We need to be excited, zeal ous, and intense to get something done for God. Too many saints get tense arguing about their pet doctrines and grumbling over their personal peeves. They need to exchange their worries for God’s burden and get wrought up 26
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