Cut-Out Bin Knowledge / Half Price

This has been a good morning.

I'm off, it's raining so I couldn't do yard work (drat!). I met Jim Bentley at Waffle House for breakfast which turned into a really neat time with God. It's good to have some one on one time with an old friend. We have a habit of sharpening each other, causing each other to see God in a new light or a different way.

For some reason, whenever I'm in town I always go down Forrest Avenue when I go home. I don't know why, I just do. As I got to Alabama city, I noticed the same thing I always do. There is a thrift store on the left just before you go over the overpass there at the steel plant. I have seen this store as long as I can remember, but I never have stopped there. Today, something said, "Do it...stop!" So I did.

The Store had the usual fair: clothes and toys, dishes and cups, electronic gear that has seen better days. This store actually had some 8 track tapes...talk about memories. But way in the back, shuffled and scattered among a group of book cases were all these books. They had a section labeled "CHRISTIAN" and as I looked down the line of books, I had the strangest thought. All of these books, at one time, had been new and contained what the author thought to be of great value to believer's everywhere. Now, here they are stacked and scattered in a thrift store, smelling of old paper and mildew. Their prices ranged from a quarter to a couple of bucks. There should have been a sign in huge letters that read THE WISDOM OF MAN NOW ON SALE. The very best efforts of man and the knowledge he holds on to has ended up in the cut out bin at a thrift store.

I Corinthians 1 we read:

The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God. As the Scriptures say, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and discard the intelligence of the intelligent. So where does this leave the philosophers, the scholars, and the world's brilliant debaters? God has made the wisdom of this world look foolish.

This is not to say that we shouldn't read what other believer's have studied and written about, but we need to realize that this kind of writing will never supplant the Word of God or the leading of the Holy Spirit. A lot of what is published by believer's is only for the moment, a fad, the next big thing. How many of you are still living by the PRAYER OF JABEZ? I sure there are a lot of copies of that book stuck away in closets and drawers around the country. Fads come and go but the authentic Word of God is forever. It is as practical and relevant today as it was when it was penned by men under the unction of the Holy Spirit. For that I am grateful.

Learn to enjoy and appreciate His Word.

God on you......

mb