Insightful Musings on the Scriptures

by

Raymond P. Sparre
Northwest University class of '67

Good morning, dear ones.

It’s another gorgeous scene from this dirty window—sunlight and no wind. My sawmill is sitting there in front of me. Not far away is the track hoe. That’s evidence that I managed to finish up that job and haul my equipment home before dark. Actually I cut up 3 big fir logs in addition to what I was anticipating. But since I was working on a time basis, I didn’t complain. The customer paid up before I departed. So there’s something more to feed our hungry bank account.

I did a jog with the dogs on our own property again. Now we need to run off to church in a few minutes.

Have a blessed day.

Love, Dad/Ray.

I can identify with this account. I have gathered some experience of my own at being in storms at sea in small vessels. Not fun. And life can often become like that—a storm at sea. Not fun. I’ve had some experience there too. In those passages there may be the winds of adversity and trouble. There may be the waves of persecution and opposition. There may be the contrary current of opinion and peer pressure. There may be the lurching of confusion and disorientation. There may come the utter exhaustion of tending to relentless survival details and the weakness of insufficient emotional and spiritual nourishment. Amidst those circumstances of life, Paul’s advice stands as good as it ever was: “Now I urge you to take some food. You need it to survive. Not one of you will lose a single hair from his head.” About then, a little bald guy in the group piped up and hollered, “So what?! Who’s worried about hair at a time like this?!”

Oops! There goes my imagination again. I just made up the bald guy response. But I’m not making up the fact that your survival is not possible without nourishment—whether you think you have time for it or not. It’s not an option. And God’s Word is the perfect food source for soul and spirit—packed with all kinds of high-energy vitamins and nutrients when taken along with prayer, praise, and thanksgiving. Once again, let’s recall the words of Jesus when He quotes, “Man shall not live by bread (physical food) alone, but by every word (spiritual food) that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). Additionally, be reminded of the practical benefits of the Word as presented in Paul’s illustration in Ephesians 6. About that passage, someone has said, “With this application, you become a guaranteed victor. Without it, you become a guaranteed casualty.”