____________________________________________________ THE GOSPEL OBSERVER "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations...teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:19,20). ____________________________________________________ February 7, 1993 ____________________________________________________ Time Is Ticking Away by Truman Smith Children would try the patience of Job! I watched one day as a young mother lifted her screaming little daughter (by one arm!) out of the family car in front of a store. I could not tell what it was that the child was crying about, but the mother said to an older woman, who was likely her mother, ``Will she ever grow out of that stage?'' It was all I could do to keep from saying, ``Yes, and before you realize it!'' But I would not intrude. While parents are right in the midst of bringing up their little ones it seems to them that it will be an eternity before they reach the place where they will not be such a ``bother'' and a worry any more. Small children even at times will test the strength of a seemingly strong marriage and appear to ``get in the way'' of success and progress. A story from Reader's Digest several years ago, written by Robert W. Wells, of which I give only the first three paragraphs, is a beautiful and wonderful article. I hope every parent will read it slowly, digest it fully, and be impressed forever. ``To an adult a tree is a tree, a cloud passing before the moon is only a cloud like those that have gone before. To a child it is not like that. Things happen for the first time to him. ``I remember a July day when John was four. We had left the Manhattan apartment where we lived then and were spending the week-end in a small town. After dinner, my wife, the boy, and I went for a walk. We came to an open field with a stand of oaks behind it. John had been holding my hand, but now he slipped free. He stood quietly for a moment, this big-city boy, surveying the largest expanse of earth he had ever seen that was entirely devoid of people. And then he was off, running hard. ``I can still close my eyes and picture him, this child whom I shall never see again, although he still lives concealed in a tall youth who has his name. Across the grass in the dying sunlight he ran, short legs pumping, under the trees, up a hill, then swooping back toward us, head erect, eyes half-closed. In spirit I was running with him, feeling the things he felt, and I was suddenly aware that the child who had loosed my hand and left me would never return, that in a brief instant of time his babyhood had ended and his boyhood began. I could feel time ticking away.'' Oh, mother! Oh, dad! Seize every moment you can lay hold upon in order to have some time with your children while they are so young, so tender, and so innocent. Relish some precious periods of play and light-heartedness with them. But, more importantly, show them by a good example what being a faithful Christian is all about. Prove to them that nothing is more important to you than the Lord and His church by putting Him first every day. Let spiritual matters take precedence in your thoughts, be first in your financial budget, have supremacy in your time, and take priority in all your activities (Matt. 6:33). In becoming parents, accept a most serious responsibility! ``Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord, and the fruit of the womb is his reward'' (Psa. 127:3). Quick, parents, while the clay is soft, pliant, and easily molded! Hasten to the task! Don't wait another moment! Later will be too late! ``And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath; but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord'' (Eph. 6:4). Time IS ``ticking away''! -- via Pause--Ponder--Profit ___________________________________________ ``Posthaste'' by Joe R. Barnett In the days of Henry VIII postmasters were given relays of horses to carry the king's messages to various cities in England. Some of the riders, though, were irresponsible, wasting time in taverns along the way. Because of this a law was passed commanding every carrier to ``ride for his life.'' The king decreed that any rider caught delaying would be publicly hanged. On particularly important letters was the ominous warning, ``Haste, post haste! Haste for thy life!'' Similarly, the highest King's business is urgent, and utmost speed is required in carrying it out. God has dispatched a message of grace, but millions whose names are on the envelopes haven't received it. The problem is in the delivery, and that's our task. We should be spreading the good news ``posthaste.'' The postal service in our own day has become almost as common a ground for jokes as Texas' Aggies. We have become reluctantly reconciled to the fact that we can't rely on announced postal schedules. Undoubtedly, the reasons for the clumsy inefficiencies of the postal service are many and difficult to solve, but somehow they should find solutions. I know that when we talk of preaching the gospel to ``every creature'' we're talking about a mammoth job with gigantic problems. But this is the job our King has given us, and we should find ways to get earth's most important job done. It's chilling to think of someone receiving an official pardon for some offense, and having that pardon delivered after the execution. And it's appalling to know that God's marvelous pardon to the lost is not being delivered to some before death halts all forwarding. ___________________________________________ POSITIVE THINKING by Greg Gwin When it comes to doing personal work many Christians are like the fella who attended a seminar on ``The power of Positive Thinking.'' He told his friend as they were leaving the meeting: ``I'm going to try it, but I don't think it will do any good!'' Too many Christians fail to do their duty to God, not because they have been discouraged by previous bad experiences, but because they don't think their efforts will do any good. For these folks we would offer two simple suggestions: 1) You must truly be surprised at the results that are possible if you would just try to share the truth with some other person. The New Testament is full of examples of people who were converted to Christ who would not have been considered as likely prospects. The 3,000 believers on Pentecost included folks who had cried out for Jesus' death. Simon (Acts 8) was a religious false teacher, yet he obeyed the gospel. The apostle Paul had been a rabid persecutor against the church, yet he was converted. You say that your efforts won't do any good? You just might be surprised if you'd try. 2) Always remember that our labors are not measured by the harvest gathered, but rather by the seed sown. Note in the parable of the sower (Luke 8:5-15), that the sower sowed the seed in places where it was likely to grow, and also in places where it likely wouldn't--he simply sowed the seed. That's our job, too. ``The seed is the word of God'' (Lk. 8:11). Think positively Christian! You can share the good news with others!! -- In Good News ___________________________________________ TODAY by Alfred Montapert This is the beginning of a fresh new day. Today comes only once, and will never return. God has given me this 24 hours to use as I will. I must do something good with this day and not waste it. This is my day of opportunity--and duty. Today I will live with courage and confidence. What I do today is very important because I am exchanging a day of my life for it. I know that the real cost of a thing is the amount of my life I spend obtaining it. When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever, leaving in its place something I have traded for it. I must not forget the price I paid for it. Today I must do my best, make it useful, profitable, successful. My life will be richer or poorer by the way I use today. ``This is the day which Jehovah hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it'' (Ps. 118:24). -- Via The Messenger ___________________________________________ Selected Sentence Sermons Providence sends food for the birds but does not throw it in the nest. The way to get anywhere is to start from where you are. A good angle to approach any problems is the TRY-angle. Nothing is easy to the unwilling. Where one goes hereafter depends largely upon what one goes after here. ________________________________________ Tri-State CHURCH OF CHRIST 1314 Montgomery Avenue, Ashland, Kentucky 41101 Sunday: 10:00 A.M. Bible class 10:50 A.M. Worship 6:30 P.M. Worship Wednesday: 7:30 P.M. Bible study evangelist/editor: Tom Edwards (606) 325-9742 e-mail: tedwards@zoomnet.net Gospel Observer web site: http://www.zoomnet.net/~tedwards/go ________________________________________