Insightful Musings on the Scriptures
by
Raymond P. Sparre
Northwest University class of '67
March 10, 2010
OK, my fine family and friends.
We have another day heading our way. Are you ready? Let's take it on in the "fear and admonition of the Lord." On your mark--get set--GO!
Love, Dad/Ray
10 March 2010
Passage: Acts 16:16-40
Focus: “He was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole family.” Acts 16:34.
I am presently borrowing a neat little Bobcat 873 skid-steer machine as part of a business deal. Several days ago I asked our son, Andy, to run it some and level up the fresh gravel on our driveway. By past experience, he’s an expert operator of this kind of equipment. He commented that it was not running right—that the engine speed was not advancing properly—something I would not have discerned due to my lack of experience. He took time to open up the engine compartment to investigate and troubleshoot. Sure enough—two machine screws had come loose and fallen out from a bracket holding the throttle linkage. It was an easy fix. Now she runs just fine.
God has carefully designed the human machine to run correctly ONLY in tune with Him and His Lordship. Please, please, please—don’t let this get by you! His Word serves as a shop manual and troubleshooting guide for diagnosis and repair of the life engine. A valuable checklist is recorded in Galatians 5 that reveals the symptoms of human life running wrong in opposition to Christ’s Lordship, as well as running right—in essential surrender to Christ’s Lordship. The first list contains “the acts of the sinful nature.” The second list puts forth “the fruit of the Spirit” (i.e., the personal spiritual relationship between a human being and Jesus Christ as Lord of every sector of life). I urge you to read again Galatians 5:16-26 and do a careful checkup.
Notice the dramatic change in the running of the jailor’s life engine. After that very non-typical earthquake that opened up the entire prison and even caused chains to fall off those bound, he was pretty freaked out, thinking he would be held responsible for the escape of all the prisoners, and began to end his own life. Please understand that suicide is NOT a symptom of a well-running life (fruit of the Spirit). Verse 29 indicates that he “fell trembling before Paul and Silas.” Fear and despair are also NOT symptoms of proper living (fruit of the Spirit). We could go on to identify other negative symptoms. But then he encountered the Master Mechanic’s touch in response to the Gospel in a nutshell presented by Paul and Silas: “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household” (Acts 16:31). Now, notice verse 34: “The jailor brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with JOY because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole family.” Did you hear the word “joy?” That’s the second in the list of healthy symptoms (fruit of the Spirit). Engine repaired! Praise God!
What are you filled with? Do you happen to have any screws loose?