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Friday, November 27, 2009

I am a bibliophile

 

I have a confession to make and you may have suspected it from many of my previous writings, but I am a "bibliophile." That's just a fancy word for my being a "bookworm." I love books. I love to read certain kinds of old books, newspapers and magazines and I mine them for ideas to write about. They are a veritable treasure house of interesting things that can be applied to a spiritual lesson. However, my expected life span may be facing a drastic reduction if I bring many more of the aforementioned "mines" into our house as my wife doesn't share my "bibliophilic" ways to the extent that I do. So, with that little preamble, I'm going to give you a couple of thoughts to consider today that you might call "ore" from some of my "mining expeditions."

You know, one does not have to be a musician to appreciate a song sung or played "in tune," do they? We all know how discordant it sounds when someone plays or sings "off key" or "out of tune." To say that it's unpleasant is an understatement. Sometimes we say that it "grates on the ears." Sort of like fingernails on a blackboard.

No, we like things being "in tune." We even can carry that principle over to areas other than music, can't we? We like the things of our lives being "in tune." We sometimes use the phrase "being in tune with nature." In other words, being "in tune" in any area we care to discuss means not being "discordant." In the military, being "discordant" is to be "out of step" with the rest of the unit on parade. It is something very easily discernable, isn't it?

Here's a little story, gleaned from a1943 edition of The Sunshine" magazine that sort of sets the table for our lesson on Spiritually being "in tune." It seems that a radio station received a letter from a sheep herder on a remote ranch in the far West. He asked the broadcaster this question: "Will you please strike 'A' on your broadcast." He explained that he was far away from a piano and his only comfort was his old fiddle and it was "all out of tune." The broadcaster did so and a few days later received a letter of appreciation from the old sheep herder and he simply said, "Now I'm in tune again."

Well, in the realm, or area, of religion God expects His followers to also be "in tune." Or, as the Gospel says: to be "in accord." Another Bible word that means to be "in tune" (attuned) or "in accord" is "fellowship." We can turn to various passages that tell us this and speak to the necessity of Christians having their earthly lives "in tune" with God's principles. Passages that warn us of letting ourselves get "out of tune" and thus, "not in accord," or "not in fellowship" with both God and the saints. Let's look at a couple of these passages for a moment.

In Phil. 2, verses 1-2 we see this principle succinctly outlined. I'll take the liberty of paraphrasing here (but please read it for yourself and check me) and give you an overall review of what the Apostle Paul is telling Christians. He couches his message in the form of "rhetorical" questions and the message is; isn't it encouraging, isn't there fellowship, isn't there comfort in being "together" in the Spirit? That it's joyous when Christian's agree wholeheartedly and they are working together in "one accord and one mind." IE: no one is "out of step" and there is no "discord."

For our second passage regarding our lesson principle today, look at the 1st chapter of 1st John. In the first few verses we pick up on the topic John is covering here and it too coincides with our lesson. He's telling Christians that they should "have fellowship" with the writers of the Gospel because they are "in fellowship" with The Father. (Vs. 3) Then a couple of verses later he points out a "discordant" example by saying that one cannot claim "fellowship" with God if they are "walking (living) in "darkness." But then says, if we are "walking (living) in "the light" where He is, then we "have fellowship." IE: "we're in accord," we're "in tune."

I think that we should adopt the words of Paul when he tells us that we should "examine ourselves" (1 Cor. 11 and 2 Cor. 13) often to see if we're "in tune." And, should we find that we might just be "out of step" with God, might be "walking in darkness" we look to His Word where the "true pitch" is found and attune ourselves. Then we can echo the old sheep herder and say, "Now I'm in tune again."

One last thought from an old publication and I think you can easily make the application. It's entitled "Remember Grandma."

Grandma used to get up on Sunday morning, cook a big breakfast for her large family, milk three or four cows, churn the butter, clean the house, kill and dress the chickens for dinner, dress the children, then go with the family in a buggy or wagon five miles to the worship and get there early.

Today, breakfast comes in a cereal box, the milk comes from the grocery store around the corner where the chicken, already prepared, also comes from and the distance to the church building is measured in blocks, or perhaps a few miles, which is traveled in a short time by modern automobile. Yet, some of us just "can't seem to make it" for Bible study. Where's Grandma when you need her?

Ron Covey

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