Midway Church of Christ

One of the hymns of my youth had a verse that urged, “Look away from the cross to the glittering crown.”

This reminds of a young man who grew up in Hawaii. At age eleven he decided he could swim across Hanauma Bay, a distance of about a mile and a quarter.

The waves were quite high and he lost sight of the other side. Frightened, he began treading water and decided to give way to the inevitable of drowning.

Then he saw a large fin gliding through the water. Suddenly he found enough energy to reach the other shore. When asked how he managed, he replied, “I discovered it is okay to drown, but not to be eaten.”

Satan, as a roaring lion, is constantly seeking those he can devour. We may escape being devoured by keeping our eyes focused on Jesus, Who beckons to the glittering crown of life eternal.

We are a forgetful people, are we not? We write ourselves notes, fill calendar pages with reminders, ask others to remind us, and still we all know the sinking feeling of having forgotten. Maybe it was an appointment at the doctor’s office; or clothes that were ready at the cleaners. Maybe it wasn’t anything special, but we hate to forget. It says something about our fallability.

Peter knew all about that. That is why he would write, “Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things; though ye know them, and be established in the present truth.” He knew the brethren knew the truth, but they needed reminding. We often need to be aroused to act on our knowledge.

Someone, like Peter, may not always be around to remind us of our duty. Let us be “zealous to confirm our calling asnd election.” Let’s remember and arouse and establish ourselves so firmly in the will of God that we will have the assurance that Peter wanted for the brethren.”

On the walls of a large university is written: “On the plains of hesitation lie the blackened bones of countless millions, who at the dawn of victory sat down to rest,
and resting, died.”

Isn’t that quite often the story of many who start a project of some kind, but never finish. It also reminds us of many who begin their Christian life, and with all their sins forgiven and victory in sight, they sat down to rest, and resting, die.

In the Christian life there is never time to rest on past attainments. Like the apostle Paul, we have not attained, and must reach for the things which are before. We must continue “to press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”

An elderly man related his experience many years asgo of being out on the West Texas prairie with a load of cotton, on his way to the gin which was in the nearest town. He was still many miles from his destination when the sun set and in the darkness a sudden freezing wind blew up — known to most Texans as “a norther.” As he was trying to decide what to do, he saw a light shining in the darkness. The “guiding light” led him to the warm hospitality of a rancher and his wife who, from a God-like concern for others, had hung a lantern on their barn door to guide those who might be caught in the chilling wind.

Such hospitality is a living example of the commandment Jesus gave that we “should love one another.” Selfless concern for the welfare of others can be a light penetrating the darkness which separates a spiritual wanderer from the warmth and safety of Christ’s love; it can wipe out the darkness of distrust, envy, and jealously. True brotherly love demonstrates Christ’s love within us and keeps us ever walking in the light.

Consider the apostle John’s statement: “If we say we have fellowship with Him, asnd walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth. But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sin.”

In Mark Twain’s LETTERS FROM THE EARTH, he questions whether we will enjoy heaven. He points out the great difference between our present lives and our descriptions of life in heaven. He wonders how we will enjoy in heaven things we detest on earth.

John says we are now the children of God. When He appears, we will be like Him. Therefore, we must conform our lives to His right now. We can’t love sin now and expect to hate it in heaven. Many are under obedience to the Lord out of a feeling of necessity rather than out of love; and such as these suffer because they have not made a clean break with sin and the world.

We can choose between being children of God or children of the devil. The devil’s children practice sin, God’s children practice righteousness.

What marvelous love God displayed toward us in making us His children. Only the supreme love of the heavenly Father could take us in our sinful condition, cleanse us by the sacrifice of His only begotten Son, and welcome us into His spiritual family. Our task, as His children, is to respond to God’s love with our own obedient love — a love motivating us to cheerfully live our lives in a total, holy dedication.