Insightful Musings on the Scriptures
by
Raymond P. Sparre
Northwest University class of '67
Greetings, dear ones—on another beautiful morning.
As I read the passage this morning in Acts 16, I looked inspiration that I thought would be worth expanding upon. I landed on the JOY factor. The new-found JOY of the jailer was preceded by the JOY displayed by Paul and Silas in jail. That struck me as something close to objective proof that their faith and message was genuine and dynamic. I mean, what really are the chances that a normal Joe Blow would have been equipped with a heart attitude of prayer and praise (JOY) after being so unjustly mistreated—publicly flogged and thrown in jail?!? Not a chance! Anyway, when I checked out an earlier composition that featured the same idea, and that I had totally forgotten, I figured I could hardly improve on it.
I plan to run to Wood Mizer to pick up my resharpened sawmill blades. The “master chainsaw mechanic” I refer to below is right on the way. How do you suppose he will respond if I give him a copy of this devotional?—and point out that he’s the guy? I don’t know either. But I’m motivated by the idea that I sure can’t hurt anyone—and there are some important concepts there for unbelievers to consider—so I intend to find out.
Speaking of chainsaws, I used my monster the other day—I think the largest saw that Stihl ever made—the big 090. Just for fun I’ll stick on a couple photos to show a little on how I used it—breaking down a big cedar log to make more manageable on the mill.
Have fun. Be blessed.
Love. Dad/Ray.
My main chainsaw for falling trees and bucking logs is a Stihl 038 Super. It’s an older model, but a great all-around saw with a 32” bar. So you can understand why I was attracted to one just like it that I encountered in a yard sale recently. It looked to be in very good shape. I noticed a price tag on it for $180. It would be worth at least $300 if it was in good working order. The guy said he bought it new, used it for firewood a few years, another guy worked on it, and now it wouldn’t run right. He said, “It’s not sucking fuel.” The compression felt good. I asked him, “What will you take for it as-is?” He said, “Give me $35 and you can take it away.” Being the generous guy that I am, I quickly peeled out $40 and said, “Keep the change.”
I tinkered with the saw myself, experimenting with cleaning and swapping carburetors, but could never get it to run more than a few pops. I finally took it to a master chainsaw mechanic. He picked up the saw, held it in a vertical position, gave it one crank, and it sprang to life and it ran perfect. He turned it off and handed it back to me and said, “You’re missing the spring in the choke gate.” Easy fix. As it turned out, the carb was sucking too much fuel. It’s really super that I now have two 038 Supers, both running as they were designed.
Here’s my point: 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 human 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., results of the personal spiritual relationship between a human being and Jesus Christ as Lord of every sector one’s 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 simple Gospel 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 of a properly running life (“fruit of the Spirit”). Engine repaired! Praise God!
How is your life engine running? Is it in synch with the Designer/Manufacturer’s specs? What are the chances that you could have some little obscure spring or screw lost or loose?