No Time For Worship!

 

According to Stephen Eckstein, Davy Crockett was among those who began a journey from north Alabama bound for the "promised land" of Texas in 1835.  This group, who wanted to settle in that locale despite the drum beats of revolution and ongoing fighting with Mexico, was comprised mostly of members of the church of Christ.  Crockett traveled with them as far as Memphis, Tennessee, but grew impatient of the delays.  The group stopped to rest and worship each Sunday, and they became known as the "church on horseback and wheels."  So, on the other side of the Mississippi River, Crockett and 60 other volunteers rushed ahead of the group shouting "hurrah for Texas!" (History of the churches of Christ in Texas, 9).  That group, sans Crockett and his cohorts, established the first Texas congregation of the Lord's church on January, 17, 1836, at Ft. Clark, Texas, known today as Clarksville (ibid.).

48 days after the group's arrival at Ft. Clark, Crockett was among 188 who died defending the Alamo in San Antonio, 412 miles south of Ft. Clark.  While this is probably something lost to history, I wonder if Crockett's personal history would have been different if he had stayed with the "church on horseback and wheels."  There is no indication that he was a part of the services or influenced by them or the members.  Already a man of renown in politics and frontier settlement, he was also renowned for being full of himself.  He and the rest of the Tennesseans who left the church members volunteered for six months of duty with the provisional government of Texas on January 14, 1836.  He arrived at the Alamo on February 8th (Hardin, Stephen L., Texian Iliad, 117).  

Crockett's interests seemed mostly political and economic, which made him no different from most of his contemporaries.  Yet, life might have been different for Crockett had he stayed with the group of Christians.  He would not likely be the legend his death at the Alamo made him, but might His name have been in the Lamb's book of life?

We find ourselves rushing headlong toward our life's goals.  In that rush, what time and place are we giving to our Lord and to His people?  The world bestows no honor and glory on faithful service to Christ, but the Christ will bestow honor and glory beyond what the world can give or comprehend to all who take the time to honor Him.  May our greatest desire be to win His recognition through lives of faithful obedience.

 

--Neal Pollard