You know, when a young man, the older folks always talked about how fast one gets older and how short life is.
I can now identify with that, experientially speaking, that is.
The bones get achy, the various reactions to pollens in the air through the onset of allergies that were never a problem before, and the teeth needing to be pulled due to bone loss and gum disease, ringing in the ears, it all adds up over time.
On the other hand, there's still that feeling of youth deep down that we don't ever let go, holding to it with a tenacity. That child within is what helps to keep us grounded in that child-like character of which Jesus, spoke, and that love of which Paul spoke.
Matthew 18:3 And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
and
1 Corinthians 13:3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed [the poor], and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.
I've noticed that people who speak of reading all manner of other materials more than they read the Bible, as if they have plumbed every depth in that magnificent book that can be plumbed through study, I usually can detect the lack in just these two things within them. They glossed over these and many other things within the Bible that speak too deeply for them to have taken notice.
Let the clues we pick up from others give us pause for thought and reflection, but most importantly the things we may glean from the scriptures by making time to read and reflect upon them, and then share those things with others. Perhaps your gatherings do not allow for mutual sharing and edification, but we can all certainly share with those around us outside of those programmatic gatherings, perhaps blessing them with what they need, and thus storing up treasure in Heaven.
I can now identify with that, experientially speaking, that is.
The bones get achy, the various reactions to pollens in the air through the onset of allergies that were never a problem before, and the teeth needing to be pulled due to bone loss and gum disease, ringing in the ears, it all adds up over time.
On the other hand, there's still that feeling of youth deep down that we don't ever let go, holding to it with a tenacity. That child within is what helps to keep us grounded in that child-like character of which Jesus, spoke, and that love of which Paul spoke.
Matthew 18:3 And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
and
1 Corinthians 13:3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed [the poor], and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.
I've noticed that people who speak of reading all manner of other materials more than they read the Bible, as if they have plumbed every depth in that magnificent book that can be plumbed through study, I usually can detect the lack in just these two things within them. They glossed over these and many other things within the Bible that speak too deeply for them to have taken notice.
Let the clues we pick up from others give us pause for thought and reflection, but most importantly the things we may glean from the scriptures by making time to read and reflect upon them, and then share those things with others. Perhaps your gatherings do not allow for mutual sharing and edification, but we can all certainly share with those around us outside of those programmatic gatherings, perhaps blessing them with what they need, and thus storing up treasure in Heaven.
