Walking on Marble

“You cannot measure your eternal value by the worth or collection of your earthly vessels” –Kenneth Kuykendall

At the height of Charles Spurgeon’s ministry, he was persuaded by a wealthy business man to tour an expensive, palatial home.  Walking through the corridors of the palace, the owner showed Spurgeon his Italian marble floors.  He tried to convince the prince of preachers that it was the best money could buy.  In his typical convicting style, Spurgeon replied, “These are the things that make it hard to die.”

Spurgeon’s remark was a rebuke against the desire for worldly possessions.  When a man spends his life pursuing the things of this world, he will often do so at the expense of missing the next world, therefore making it hard to die.

You cannot measure your eternal value by the worth or collection of your earthly vessels.  The Lord declared, “For a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things he possesseth” (Luke 12:15).  All that we possess in this life will one day fade away. The only thing that will last eternally is your relationship with God. Therefore, we are instructed to “set our affection on things above, not on things below.”

Your feet may never touch Italian marble floors, but if you live and die in faith they will one day walk on the heavenly street of gold.

The Holy Spirit Tinkers

“God is the only one who can separate the true from the false, the only one who can purify the motives of the heart” –Richard Foster

When it comes to mechanical knowledge of vehicles, I have very little.  I understand the basic concept of filling up the gas tank; and if need be, I could perhaps change the oil, as long as I have the owner’s manual nearby.  I should have more understanding than what I do seeing that my dad is a “shade-tree mechanic.”  The term “shade-tree mechanic” simply means what it sounds like –parking a car under a tree, and working on it.  Before the computerization of vehicles, people used to actually work on their own cars and trucks more often than they do now.

There have been many times something would go wrong in my vehicle and dad would come over and start looking things over.  He would lift up the hood, jiggle some wires or belts, fiddle around, and within a few minutes have the problem figured out.  He knew where and how to tinker.

The Holy Spirit works the same way.  When we are having trouble getting our engine started, when we fail to move forward, He begins tinkering under our hood.  He knows what parts are stalled-out or broken.   Within moments He has pin-pointed the problem and starts working to get the issue resolved.  He alone can reveal the “mechanical glitches” of our spirituality.  Allow Him to tinker, so you can get back on the road.

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