“Could You Sign Your Name to This? - Jeff Curtis”

Saturday, June 29, 2024

COULD YOU SIGN YOUR NAME TO THIS?

Anonymous

Dear God in Heaven,

I want to write to you and let you know why we don't attend the worship services of the church faithfully. You have chosen for your day a day that comes at the end of a hard week when we are all tired out. Also, it comes just after Saturday night and that is the night, we feel we should enjoy ourselves and take in a movie or ballgame or a party and it is usually after midnight when we get to sleep. You have chosen the very day that we need to sleep late, Too, my family demands a big Sunday dinner and when I get up so late, I can't get all this prepared and make it to Bible Study and preaching. John likes to read the Sunday sports page and the kids want to read the funnies. I mean no disrespect, but it seems to me you picked the wrong day.

Then, too, we must think of John. He works so hard all week and Sunday is about the only day he has to catch up on odd jobs around the house. I also feel that he should have one day a week to sleep, fish, golf or visit the folks. Please try to understand and don't hold this against us.

Last Sunday we meant to go to worship but had company. The Sunday before, we meant to go but it was raining. I was telling John last night that we just had to get straightened out and get back to worship or people would think we had quit. You know how people are to talk.

I wanted to tell you all these things so that you could see our viewpoint and know that it is really our fault we do not go to worship. And don't think we do not love you, dear God, for we do. We love the church too, and have been faithful members for years, and we expect to die in it and go home to glory.

Faithfully yours,

Minnie Saints

Careless City, U.S.A.

Maintaining the Purity of Your Heart

by Heath Rogers

Last year we had some mulch put in the flowerbed on the side of our house. It helped make the bed beautiful. However, as summer progressed, I started noticing some new kind of weeds sprouting up in the bed. I put on gloves (these new weeds had some nasty thorns) and pulled them up by the roots. A few weeks later, more weeds showed up. I again pulled out those new arrivals. A few weeks later - more weeds.

I had hoped these weeds had died out over the winter. This spring we planted new flowers and put on a new layer of mulch. The weeds showed up again.

I blame last year’s mulch.

“Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life” (Prov. 4:23). Part of “keeping” or maintaining the purity of our heart is protecting it from exposure to evil. Once we have developed a taste for sin, it is difficult to get the taste out of our mouth. We can repent and strive to do right, but the taste will always be there, tempting us to return to the passing pleasures of sin (Heb. 11:25).

How much easier it would be to maintain our flower bed if we had never introduced last year’s infected mulch.

How much easier it would be to maintain the purity of our heart if we never introduced it to sin.

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