Falling Short (Lessons from Life)

A recent children’s talk by our pastor reminded me of my days as a student at the old Abersychan Mining and Technical Institute. The class had assembled and waited the arrival of our tutor, all restless and fidgety. After some delay the deputy head arrived to announce that as our tutor was sick, he would be taking the lesson. I do not remember what lesson we were to have had, but I did learn a lesson I never forgot.
Having taken up our exercise books, pencils and ruler we were instructed to draw a line two inches long!! With that the deputy head left the room. Whatever was he thinking of? After all technical drawing was on the curriculum, so we knew how to draw a straight line, didn’t we?
The task was swiftly accomplished, pencils put down, chaos reigned. Then, just before the lesson was due to close, the deputy head reappeared, silence fell as he said “Now measure the line you have drawn.” There was utter disbelief, “But sir,” spluttered one bright spark, “its two inches long, like you said,” “I know what I asked you to do” replied the deputy, “ now measure it again, but this time instead of laying the ruler flat on the paper, as you did to draw the line, turn the ruler onto its edge, and then measure the line.” “Now how long is the line you have drawn?” One measured one inch and fifteen sixteenths, another two and one sixteenths of an inch, another two and one eighth inches. Of twenty two students only two or three came anywhere near being correct. When the ruler had been carefully laid against the line drawn our careless and casual errors were revealed.
So also in our lives. Lives lived according to our ideas and thoughts always fall short of the ruler of God’s law. Romans 3:23 reminds us that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. The Psalmist also reminds us there is none righteous no not one (Psalm 14:1-3).
However ROM 3:24 says we can know redemption and justification through faith in Jesus Christ. God setting a new standard in our lives. A new measure of true perfection, that is the fullness of Christ Himself ( Ephesians 4:11-13). This state is not arrived at overnight, but by the Spirit of the Lord we are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory (2 Corinthians 3:18).

Which measure or rule governs your life?

The Consequence of Actions

If you need to do a spot of shopping, then why not take a trip to our village? If you want to buy a birthday card there’s Sam and Ella's shop. Or, you may wish to buy a handcrafted piece of jewellery from Murphy's; he will personally greet you. If you need flowers, then try Baxter's; he is so committed to customer care, he even sleeps amongst the flower pots. As you’ve probably guessed, our local shop assistants are canine: Sam and Ella are West Highland terriers, Murphy is a very gentle black Labrador, and Baxter is an endearing border terrier. However, there are two more doggy retail characters to tell you about, but they have had a bad week...

During a recent trip to the newspaper shop, I heard a sad tale about the newsagent’s dogs. Their owner had come down in the morning to find an empty packet of ibuprofen tablets; in humans, ibuprofen is a pain killer, but it is poisonous to dogs. There was no way of knowing which dog had consumed the entire packet of tablets, so off to the vets for treatment both dogs had to go. The dogs had to endure some rather unpleasant medication and their owners had an anxious 48 hours. Now you may be thinking how foolish of the owners to leave the tablets where the dogs could reach them, but there’s more to this story. In addition to his family, the newsagent shares his home with two dogs and two cats. In the night, the cats had visited the kitchen and raided the cupboards, not only opening them, but pulling out the ibuprofen tablets. The dogs had opportunistically gobbled up the tablets as treats and, well, the rest is history.
This episode brought to my mind how the actions of one person can seriously affect another. Consider the story of David: as a consequence of his sin with Bathsheba, an innocent man, Uriah the Hittite, died (2 Samuel 11). 

Although we may not realise it, people watch us: our behaviour, our speech, our reactions to the circumstances of life. As Christians we want to honour the Lord in every part of our lives and draw unbelievers to Him. We want people to ask for the reason for the hope that lies within (1 Peter 3:15), so it is important that we walk with integrity and similarly, it’s important not to be a source of stumbling.
The cats in today’s story never intended to harm the dogs, but as a result of their misdemeanours both dogs had to be treated; thankfully, all turned out well in the end. It’s a reminder that in our daily lives we ought to walk carefully, not only for our own sakes, but also for those around us.
See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Ephesians 5:15 (NKJ)

Keeping Going

The Welsh hymn singing programme Decra Canu Decra Canmol was being broadcast from Blaenanerch Chapel. The chapel had been a focal point for the 1904 revival in West Wales. As is often the case during the programme, a visit is made to a nearby place of interest. On this occasion the place visited was indeed unique.

During the Second World War prisoner of war camps were set up all over the country. One was located at Henllan, near Newcastle Emlyn, not far from Blaenanerch. At one time it housed 1500 Italian p.o.w’s, many of which were employed on local farms.

During their enforced stay in Wales they remembered the faith of their homeland and set about converting one of the huts into a place of worship. Leading the group was an artist named Mario who painted a mural of The Last Supper on a wall behind the altar. But with no paint available, they had to make their own, using naturally sourced dyes from plants, fruits, grasses, and using fish oil as a binding agent. Given that food was also scarce; to use fish oil in this way entailed a degree of personal sacrifice. Bully beef tins were recycled into candlesticks.

Whilst we do not accept many of the doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church we can but admire the fervour and passion of those who out of scraps created a beautiful place to worship God. It would have been easy to have taken the line that Israel did in Babylon, when they hung their harps on the riverside willows and asked, "How shall we sing the Lords song?" (PSALM 137:1-4).

Surely it could be said of the Italian prisoners they had kept the faith (REV 14:12) in a strange land. This reminds us that we are in a strange land, that this world is not our home, yet the challenge is the same: to keep the faith in an alien environment, to leave behind a lasting testimony to that faith.

Lesson from a Lost Lead

In our household, our mornings begin with walking the dog, come rain, come shine. Usually, at least two of us walk the dog together, but on this particular morning, it was just me.

As I walked our dog Lily at the local park, I zigzagged across the large field playing games with her. When it was time to go, I put my hands to my side to rummage for the lead, and to my dismay, it was no longer around my middle, where I had tied it. I looked around the large open field, which now seemed very large indeed, and wondered exactly which way I had sauntered. Oh, why hadn’t I just stuck to the path? Surely the multi-coloured lead ought to be reasonably easy to spot on the green grass! Though I tried to retrace my footsteps, I could not find that lead. I asked the other local doggy-walkers, a friendly and kindly lot of folk, but no-one had seen it. Some of them even joined in the search.

By this time, Lily was flagging and definitely wanted to go home, but we live a good ten minutes’ walk from the park, and it necessitates walking beside main roads; there was no safe way of going home without a lead. I was wondering quite what to do when I saw two ladies come towards me; they stopped to talk to me. One of the ladies insisted that I have her dog’s lead, saying that she’d come by car and could manage without it. Gratefully, I accepted and we swapped phone numbers to enable us to make arrangements for its return.

Though I tried to contact that lady to return her lead, each time an arrangement was made, something would happen; she would text to say she couldn’t come, but she insisted I keep the lead. Now generally speaking, I know my fellow dog-walkers, yet this kind lady I have met neither before, nor since. The more I have considered the happenings, the more providential they seem.

The Lord knows our needs even before we ask Him. It seems to me that in His great kindness He sent me help. If the Lord should care about such a small event in the scheme of my life, then the big issues, that each of us agonise over, are of great concern to Him too.

“Let the Lord be magnified,

 Who has pleasure in the prosperity of His servant.”

 (Psalm 35:27) 

Checking Change

In common with many youngsters in the 50’s I earned pocket money by delivering newspapers for a local news agent. Mr. Cook was a kindly chapel going man, attending the Congregational chapel opposite his shop. One pay day I bought a small item from Mr. Cook and gave him a £1 note to pay for my purchase. Mr. Cook took the note, went to the till and returned with my change which he rapidly counted out into my outstretched hand. I was about to pocket my change when Mr. Cook said sternly “Have you checked your change”? “But - you just counted it” I blustered. Fixing his stern gaze on me he said “Check it boy.”  I checked, and sheepishly found I was a coin short (2 shilling). Holding out the coin he had concealed in his hand he said “Always check your change, the quickness of the hand deceives the eye.”

          How easily we are deceived into thinking everything is just fine, when the reality is the very opposite. PROV 14:12: 16:25 warns us that ‘There is a way that seems right to man, but its end is the way of death.’  Jesus told of the two roads one a narrow way, the other a broad road that leads to destruction, the narrow road though hard to find leads to eternal life MATT 7:13,14.

          What looks right is not necessarily right, it is all too easy to be deceived, so it is vital we make the right choice. The fact that many are traveling the broad road does not make it right, for us, nor indeed for them, when the end is destruction.

          What we must do then is check for ourselves. The Athenian philosophers checked out Paul's preaching concerning the resurrection of Jesus for themselves by inviting Paul to address them in the Areopagus, and some believed him, becoming followers of Christ ACTS 17:16-34.

          There are many who will say this way or that way is the right way, scripture exhorts us not to believe everything we hear as being from God until we have tested it 1JOHN 4:1.          Although Jesus said few find the narrow road that leads to life, He also said if you seek you will find MATT 7:8. Check it out for yourself. 

Imitation is the sincerest of flattery...

...so wrote Charles Caleb Cotton in his work ‘Many Things in Few Words.’, circa 1820. Many others have expressed similar sentiments. Imitation can however have both good and negative results.

Take commerce for example, a product may be so good that other manufacturers will seek to copy it in order to capture a share of the market. That imitation often extends to the way a product is packaged and marketed, even the position it occupies on the supermarket shelves. One of our leading brands of breakfast cereal has countered such tricks with the slogan ‘If it doesn’t say Kellogg on the box, it’s not Kellogg in the box’. What a challenge for all who label themselves Christian - is Christ dwelling within?

What does the Bible say about imitation? Paul writing to the Corinthian church urged them to imitate him 1COR 4:16. A brave almost arrogant call, but Paul himself was also imitating someone else and reveals who in 1COR 11:1 where again he calls on the Corinthians to imitate him, in the same manner that he imitates Christ. Then in HEB 6:12 we find we are to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. That is those who have persevered, those who have finished the course 2TIM 4:7. Theirs has been a successful life, their imitation of Christ complete.

To be like Jesus, to be like Jesus,

All I ask, to be like Him,

All through life's journey, from earth to glory.

All I ask, to be like Him