Sunday, June 26, 2011

Be encouraged


In William Gurnal's book titled "The Christian In Complete Armour" he is talking about King David and his optomistic spirit in spite of all his deficiencies.

"How did David get this holy greatness of spirit as displayed in this scripture -- 'As for me, thou upholdest me in mine integrity, and settest me before thy face for ever.'Ps. 41:12

It is as if he had said, 'Lord, You do not treat me the way my enemies do; if there were only one sinful sore in my life, they would light on it like flies. But you overlook my stumbling feet and pardon my sin. You see my uprightness and hold it up amidst all my many infirmities. You set me before Your face and communicate love and favor to me even when sin is mingled with my obedience.'

The word picture of flies lighting on a sore is so vivid; I remember seeing hundreds of flies swarming on a sore one of our horses had; and isn't it just the way we do when we see the flaws in others. But God overlooks our many infirmities and holds up the good we do though even that is flawed. He is a merciful God.
It reminds me of Matt. 23:23 and Luke 11:42 "you overlook justice, mercy or sometimes rendered compassion, faithfulness, and the love of God". When we worship God exercising these virtues of His spirit he is quick to overlook our weaknes in doing so. Thank God!

Photo from the Internet

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Unsociable



“A man that is out of humor when an unexpected guest breaks in upon him, and does not care for sacrificing an afternoon to any chance comer; that will be master of his own time and pursuer of his own inclinations, makes but a very unsociable figure in this life.” Addison

“Unsociable tempers are contracted in solitude, which will in the end not fail of corrupting the understanding as well as the manners, and of utterly disqualifying a man for the satisfactions and duties of life. Men must be taken as they are, and we neither make them or ourselves better, by flying from or quarreling with them.” Burke

I ran across these two quotes in my book “Gems of Great Authors”. I think they really go hand in hand; when we spend too much time in solitude we can easily become fussy and used to having our own way. So much so, that the simple distraction of an unexpected guest becomes a burden; we want to be the ‘master of our own time and pursuer of our own inclinations’. Often when children come into a family there is a huge adjustment as we learn to sacrifice our time that was once our own and now duty and sacrifice become the norm. I’ve known some that could never make the necessary adjustments. It is a pity because we gain our time but lose the deepest satisfactions life has to offer.




Top photo by Alexander Ch, bottom photo by Gary Ian Young