Not only did He make us, but also He paid the price for our redemption by His death on Calvary's cross. This great truth should spur us on in consistent living for His divine glory, realizing the words of our Saviour, “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you that ye should go and bring forth fruit.” * * * Outside God's will there's no such thing as success; and in God's will there can never be failure. * * * SINCERITY'S MARK Legend indicates that when glassmak ing began in Italy some shrewd and un scrupulous merchants created real prob lems. In making delicate porcelain the substance had to be subjected to severe heat. As a result pieces not infrequently broke. Instead of discarding them, how ever, some of the dishonest dealers patched them together and then cov ered over the cracks with some invisible wax. A t first glance the casual buyer couldn’t distinguish between the good and the bad. Only by holding the object up to the sun could the tell-tale evi dence be seen. To protect themselves, honest merchants banded together de vising a term which was to appear on all their products. The mark of excel lence was, “sine cera,” meaning “with out wax.” We get our word “sincere” from this. The Apostle Paul may have had this in mind when he told the Phil- lipian church, “I desire that your lives be sincere (without wax).” People today are holding up our lives to the light to see if the things we declare concerning Christ are real and practical in us. In the parallel, we will go into the oven of everyday experience. May we be as clay in the Lord’s hand, to come forth as vessels of honor,'meet for the Mas ter’s use. . . . Nothing will cook a persons goose as quickly as a boiling temper. * * * THE LOST WARNING Do you recall that tragic railroad ac cident some years ago in the east when a trainload of children w a s ripped apart? The boys and girls were just coming home from school and the local had to make a stop at a siding. As it started to move ahead, one of the crew discovered that a switch was jammed. He realized that unless a warning was
given to the approach limited it would plunge into the back of the children’s train. A flag in hand, the switchman ran back down the tracks to wave the warning signal. Unfortunately, the en gineer failed to stop and the feared tragedy occured. He had slowed down but not sufficiently to prevent the wreck and the loss of many precious lives. The limited’s engineer had jumped from the cab before the impact. As soon as he had sufficiently recovered, an inquiry was held as officials sought to determine who was at fault. The engineer main tained he had seen no red flag, while the switchman steadfastly attested that he had indeed waved one. The engineer ad mitted he had seen a flag, but it wasn’t red, it was yellow. The courtroom was filled with angry words. The wise judge ordered the flag to be presented in evi dence. When it was finally brought forth the spectators were shocked to note that while it had originally been red it had long since turned a dirty yellow after having been subjected to the elements. The engineer was exonerated. He could not be blamed, for the flag had lost its value as a signal to stop. This was truly a great tragedy, and yet, how many Christians, because their lives have been subjected to the dulling influences of the world have lost their positive testi mony. May we say with the apostle Paul, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.” * * * The biggest problem we have is not to add years to our life but rather life to our years. * * * To be completed theendof thismonth isBiota's new men's residence hall which will accommodate an additional 160 students on the Campus. The building adjoins the existing unit which was com pleted a year and a half ago. Each room is occupied by two men, with study-desk dividers allowing a maximum of privacy while encouraging Christian fellowship.
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