Romans 14: 17 “For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”
I have found the older I get, the more easily I become frustrated. It’s actually funny how the “big” things don’t bother me but the little things drive me up a wall. Allowing a can of paint or varnish to ruin is among those little things.
Lately, we’ve had several pieces of furniture that needed refinishing. Among those were a cedar chest, a table, a walnut chest-of-drawers and a wash stand. Mostly, they just needed cleaning, sanding and varnishing. I use polyurethane clear gloss and over the years have allowed as much to ruin as I have used.
The unsuccessful procedure is to buy a can of varnish, use the needed amount and then secure the lid as tightly as a sixteen ounce framing hammer can seal it. Then, lo and behold, I go back in a few weeks in need of a clear coat for a project and it has an eighth inch sheet of the dried product on the surface.
That quart of polyurethane clear gloss was, just a few short years ago, $7.95 and now it’s $24.95. I full well know inflation and price gouging are closely akin but how can anyone justify such a price increase?
Because of the ridiculous price and my propensity not to waste products, I decided to store the can and it’s remainder of contents in Margie’s refrigerator. Thus the question: “Why is this paint can in the refrigerator?” I’m not sure how this preservation method is going to work but it’s worth a shot.
I also store PVC pipe cement, printer cartridges and Gorilla glue in the frig. Explanations are never adequate. Once when we first married fifty four years ago, I left a box of night crawlers in the refrigerator and have never heard the end of that little act of innocence and ignorance.
We keep milk and eggs in the frig to keep them fresh; why not fishing worms? I have never understood how anyone could confuse a box of fishing worms with cottage cheese. Telling her she was being unreasonable did not work very well. Of course, that went over like a cast iron parachute. I can’t understand why she’s kept me this long! I’m just lucky, I suppose.
To keep some items fresh is to preserve their life span. So it is with our relationship with the Lord Jesus. To allow that very important connection in our lives to grow cold would be a tragedy. The one that shed His blood for us on the Cross of Calvary must never be allowed to deteriorate with time or negligence.
Psalm 51: 10-12 “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.”
David was obviously in a state of despair and had lost his connection with God when writing Psalm fifty-one. I can imagine tears in his eyes as he penned those words and His deep feeling for his Creator and the Lord of his life.
At times we have to fall or fail before we can rise to a level of a supernatural connection with our perfect Jesus. For many, to believe is enough, as the Bible says (John 3: 16) but to attain that special spiritual connection with our Lord and Savior is another level altogether.
To have our daily Bible reading/study time is a preserving method that Christians can (and should) employ to reinforce and maintain that precious relationship we have with the Lord Jesus. Prayer and meditation are also a very effective part of the relationship.
At times those closest to our precious Savior are called radicals even by other church attenders. To have that closeness one may feel alone in this world but that is to be cherished by the true believer-follower.
To preserve is by definition, to maintain something in its original or existing state. Our relationship with God is much more than a “maintaining;” it is a growing. When we grow in Him, we grow in our Christian maturity, our spiritual growth and our desire to fulfil His commandments.
2 Peter 3: 18 “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever!”
Thomas Aquinas said, “If the highest aim of a captain were to preserve his ship, he would keep it in port forever.” Our faith and trust in our Creator God must be taken beyond the safe havens of the earthly ports.
I find it almost amusing, but also disturbing, so many Christians are willing to sit in a church service (or class) and talk about Jesus but when entering the mission field (outside the church doors), are reluctant to call His name.
Until Jesus becomes our life we are only filling a seat or being ordinary consumers when we purchase a Bible. It is so easy to be a church member or look the part by carrying a Bible into the church service but to live a life in line with His teachings and to consume and digest that Bible is another level altogether.
Genesis 45: 5 “Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life.” Joseph, the eleventh son of Jacob made this statement to his brothers that twenty-two years previous sold him into Egypt as a slave.
Joseph lived a life plagued with troubles and problems. He was hated by his brothers, thrown into a pit and left to die and then sold into slavery. He was falsely accused of molesting Potiphar’s wife and cast into prison. Yet he managed, by his extreme level of perseverance and faith and trust in the God of Israel, became a Prince of Egypt.
By bringing Jacob and his family to Egypt to avoid a famine, Joseph saved the Jewish people from extinction. God established the Jewish race of people to provide the world with a Savior and that they did.
While we must work to preserve our connection with our Lord, He has worked to provide eternity for us. Eternity is the ultimate preservation and must be considered a reality by the believer.
Christians believe that eternity is a reality and eternal life is a truth as stated in the Holy Bible (Romans 6: 23). By the knowledge of our own imperfections and our salvation, we must tell others.
To preserve His Holy Name and our own connection with Him, we must share Him with a godless world. Christ Jesus was crucified for the remission of sin and resurrected. He makes life worth living and gives us a hope as nothing or no one else can.
If any of us are seeking to preserve our own peace and rest, we must adhere to Him and share His truth with those we meet. If Christians don’t preserve the authenticity of Jesus, no one will.
Charles Spurgeon said “Nothing reflects so much honor on a workman as a trial of his work and its endurance of it. So it is with God. It honors Him when His saints preserve their integrity.”
Van Yandell is a retired Industrial Arts teacher, an ordained gospel evangelist and commissioned missionary, from Fredonia, Kentucky. A part of the Bible Connection series.