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Thursday, March 30, 2006

"Worthless Things"

"Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word" (Psalm 119:37).

There sure is a great variety of electronic gadgetry and I must admit I find quite a bit of it appealing.  There's just always something new and dazzling. I like to observe people and everyone it seems is now talking constantly on their cell phone. But the most unusual sight is people who apparently have some type of invisible electronic gadget as a cell phone walking around looking like they're talking to themselves!  They gesture with their hands and have the facial expressions of conversation. I assume I wasn't seeing crazy people.

Consider the daily verse as a personal prayer. It is found in the midst of the longest chapter in the entire Bible.  Sometimes when reading through a longer section of the Bible our goal can easily be just to get through it.  We don't necessarily ponder each phrase and thoughtfully consider the meaning.  I have a good minister friend who did a verse by verse study on this long chapter and it reminded me of the importance of chewing on each precious morsel of God's Word.

When perceived through spiritual eyes all the neat stuff that is so visually appealing is worthless in comparison to the things that really matter. That's what we need to constantly remember.  I wonder what "worthless things" the Psalmist was referring to?  I suppose they are similar to that spoken by Isaac Watts in his classic hymn, "When I survey the wondrous cross" where he states, "All the vain things that charm me most."  I have a feeling these worthless and vain things are at least as prominent in our day as they were three thousand years ago or three hundred years ago.  Actually I suspect in our generation we are exposed to a whole lot more worthless things and a much greater variety!

The Psalmist was wise in identifying this truth and making it a request.  Do you see these worthless things surrounding us today?  Many are not necessarily bad and we will use them, but compared to those things that matter most they are indeed "worthless." 

Consider the Apostle Paul's perspective on this matter.  "But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ--the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith" (Philippians 3:7-9).

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
Save in the death of Christ, my God;
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to His blood. *


Be encouraged today,


Stephen C. Weber

* "When I Survey The Wondrous Cross" Watts, Isaac © Public Domain

I am in my home state of Missouri today, staying with my cousin Dub and his wife Joy. My brother Pat met me here and today we will be doing some visiting with Mom's friends. My brother Mike will join us this evening.  
I realize the following information will only to apply to a very few on this list.  But due to my Mom's varied list of friends, several who are on this mailing list, I will make this brief announcement as I am unable to determine a better way to do so! This Saturday, April 1 at 12:00 noon we will have a special graveside Memorial Service for my Mom (Georgia Mae Weber).  It will be at the Green Lawn Cemetery near Schell City, Missouri. All her Midwest family and friends are invited to attend. A meal will follow in the Harwood Community Building in Harwood. Also on Thursday, March 30 I would be pleased to gather with any of her Kansas City area friends who might like to meet for a cup of coffee.  For more information, directions to the cemetery, and to contact me please see this special page.  Also would anyone reading this who knows Georgia Mae please pass this information along to others who knew her and who may be interested in attending.  Thanks, SCW

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Scripture references are from The Holy Bible: New International Version. © 1984 by International Bible Society; NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission; and the King James Version.
Personal Mission Statement: "I am created by God to bring Him glory. Through God's Son Jesus Christ I have been redeemed and I make it my life's goal to please the Lord. My mission in life is to honor God through my faith and obedience and to prepare myself and all whom I may influence for eternity."

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