Once when we were traveling we walked into a meetinghouse and tried to find a place to sit. We were among the first to arrive but pew after pew was already filled with folded shawls, afghans, blankets, Bibles and notebooks. The problem for us is that Keith must sit close enough to be able to read lips or the entire service is lost on him. We are not bashful, so we finally moved aside a blanket and sat down. The owner of the blanket either never arrived that morning or sat somewhere else.
Now I do understand the problem. By the time we load up two Bibles, a notebook, Keith’s hearing paraphernalia, my medications, two pairs of glasses, a magnifying glass, a purse, and two jackets I feel like we are moving every Sunday. It would be nice to have two sets of everything and leave one right where we usually sit. If I were alone and older, it would be nice not to have to carry so much. However, suppose we had been visitors from the community that Sunday and felt like we were not welcome to sit wherever we chose because practically every seat was “taken?” A few is not a problem, but maybe we should take a look at the buildings we all meet in and make certain that only a few places appear to be “saved” for someone besides an interested and, we hope, welcome visitor.
Sometimes we leave something much more important in our pews than a Bible or a blanket—our faith, our good behavior, and our desire to operate under the authority of an Almighty God.
Only on Sundays do we think of anyone else, and only the ones announced. The rest of the week we are too busy. Only on Sundays do we stand up for the truth. The rest of the week we don’t want to cause a fuss. Only when it involves those “five acts of worship” do we look for the authority of God to act. The rest of the week it never crosses out minds that the same authority will tell us how to live and make important decisions. Only on Sunday are we careful how we approach God, forgetting entirely that we are in His presence every minute of every day.
So what did you leave lying in the pew last Sunday? Be sure to take it home with you this week.
Hear this, you who trample on the needy and bring the poor of the land to an end, saying, “When will the new moon be over, that we may sell grain? And the Sabbath, that we may offer wheat for sale, that we may make the ephah small and the shekel great and deal deceitfully with false balances, that we may buy the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals and sell the chaff of the wheat?” Therefore because you trample on the poor and you exact taxes of grain from him, you have built houses of hewn stone, but you shall not dwell in them; you have planted pleasant vineyards, but you shall not drink their wine. For I know how many are your transgressions and how great are your sins -- you who afflict the righteous, who take a bribe, and turn aside the needy in the gate. Seek good, and not evil, that you may live; and so the LORD, the God of hosts, will be with you, as you have said, Amos 8:4-6; 5:11,12,14.
Dene Ward
For help with this blog, click on FAQ and Tutorial on the left sidebar/
Now I do understand the problem. By the time we load up two Bibles, a notebook, Keith’s hearing paraphernalia, my medications, two pairs of glasses, a magnifying glass, a purse, and two jackets I feel like we are moving every Sunday. It would be nice to have two sets of everything and leave one right where we usually sit. If I were alone and older, it would be nice not to have to carry so much. However, suppose we had been visitors from the community that Sunday and felt like we were not welcome to sit wherever we chose because practically every seat was “taken?” A few is not a problem, but maybe we should take a look at the buildings we all meet in and make certain that only a few places appear to be “saved” for someone besides an interested and, we hope, welcome visitor.
Sometimes we leave something much more important in our pews than a Bible or a blanket—our faith, our good behavior, and our desire to operate under the authority of an Almighty God.
Only on Sundays do we think of anyone else, and only the ones announced. The rest of the week we are too busy. Only on Sundays do we stand up for the truth. The rest of the week we don’t want to cause a fuss. Only when it involves those “five acts of worship” do we look for the authority of God to act. The rest of the week it never crosses out minds that the same authority will tell us how to live and make important decisions. Only on Sunday are we careful how we approach God, forgetting entirely that we are in His presence every minute of every day.
So what did you leave lying in the pew last Sunday? Be sure to take it home with you this week.
Hear this, you who trample on the needy and bring the poor of the land to an end, saying, “When will the new moon be over, that we may sell grain? And the Sabbath, that we may offer wheat for sale, that we may make the ephah small and the shekel great and deal deceitfully with false balances, that we may buy the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals and sell the chaff of the wheat?” Therefore because you trample on the poor and you exact taxes of grain from him, you have built houses of hewn stone, but you shall not dwell in them; you have planted pleasant vineyards, but you shall not drink their wine. For I know how many are your transgressions and how great are your sins -- you who afflict the righteous, who take a bribe, and turn aside the needy in the gate. Seek good, and not evil, that you may live; and so the LORD, the God of hosts, will be with you, as you have said, Amos 8:4-6; 5:11,12,14.
Dene Ward
For help with this blog, click on FAQ and Tutorial on the left sidebar/
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