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Dripping Springs Weekly Bulletins
"When It is in the Power of Thine Hand to Do It"
His name was Larry. I don’t remember his last name, but never will I forget the day I realized I had lost an opportunity. It has been over thirty years, but the incident is still fresh in my mind.
He was a student in one of my classes, and in our discussion of the life of Christ, he had many questions. They were honest questions, and our talks were timely and straightforward.
The Junior College offered Bible courses then, and Larry wanted to know more about the Bible. He was but a freshman, so I had “plenty of time” to talk to him and to show him the Gospel plan of salvation.
One Friday afternoon I received a call from the registrar asking if I had Larry’s phone number. I did, and I gave it to her. I then asked why they needed it, and she said they needed to forward his records to another school to which Larry was transferring that week.
Suddenly I realized my time and opportunity were dwindling. I tried to call him, but no one answered. I got in the car and went looking for him. I never saw or heard from Larry again, and have no idea of his present spiritual condition.
A passage in the Bible kept coming back to me, and it was not a comforting passage. It reads: “Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it,” Proverbs 3:27.
This story may mean little to you, but it means much to me. We must take advantage of opportunities when they arise. Tomorrow is always more appealing than today when it comes to “work.” But we have no promise of any tomorrows, Proverbs 27:1; James 4:13.
Many of us have done the same thing, allowing opportunities to slip away. Let us be reminded that opportunities can be lost forever, the needed words never spoken or heard. Can we not do better?
To Your Children
This world is becoming very impersonal and ugly. Nasty deeds are making the world of children even more fearful. Your children need to know there is one source of help on which they can depend. That must come from the love you have for them. They need to hear “I love you” from the ones they love. They need to see and feel your love for them, “..when it is in the power of thine hand” to say it.
A tearful mother spoke to news personnel recently, heart-broken by the death of her son in an accident. She could only say, “I just want to tell him I love him.”
To Your Parents
It’s so easy to take others for granted. It seems even easier to overlook those closest to us. When the day of their death takes them from us, this passage or its message may speak to you. Who has contributed most to your life? Who has given you what you needed and often what you wanted? Food, shelter? Help and opportunity? Education?
Both my parents are gone, but a day does not go by but what I think of them and what they did for me. Many questions still need answers, but they cannot be answered now.
Whether you are still with them or living on your own, your parents want to hear from you. They may need the very things they provided you in the past, but especially your attention and your love for them, in words they ponder when the lights go out at night, “…when it is in the power of thine hand” to say them
To Your Friends
The very essence of friendship is the desire to further the best interests of your friends. You care for one another. You want the best for your friend. Words of affection may be less obvious, but acts of friendship are a must. Why not put in plain words the value you place upon another’s friendship.
Do you have friends who need the Gospel and its saving power? It may be that you are the very one to speak to them about Jesus and His love. If you truly seek your friend’s best interests, surely you want him to have the hope of eternal life.
With friends, opportunities are more plentiful, but sometimes we are hesitant to approach them. The more we examine this hesitance, the more we realize that we must be ready and willing to exhibit the highest expression of our friendship.
James Gaines wrote the following exhortation to be a true friend:
When in a better land
before the bar we stand,
how deeply grieved our souls will be;
If any lost one there should cry in deep despair, You never mentioned Him to me.
You never mentioned Him to me;
You helped me not the light to see.
You met me day by day,
and knew I was astray,
Yet never mentioned Him to me.
Is it not time to cease withholding the good that you can do for others, “when it is in the power of thine hand to do it”? You will avoid the regret I still feel about Larry, but you will also do that which God requires of us all.
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“As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith,”
“You will never find time for anything. If you want time, you must make it.”
“Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work in the grave, whither thou goest,”
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Thinking of Men "Above That Which is Written"
The church at Corinth had many problems. One of them was “preacheritis”. Some were saying, “I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas,” while others were still attempting to follow only Christ (1 Corinthians 1:12). This indicated that they were carnally (not spiritually) minded (3:1-4). It may be that Paul and Apollos were not actually the ones they were esteeming too highly, but that Paul was only using his and Apollos’ names to avoid undue embarrassment to others of whom they thought too highly. At least Paul wrote, “And these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and to Apollos for your sakes; that ye might learn in us not to think of men above that which is written…” (4:6).
Thinking of men above that which is written is an ever-present problem. It is difficult to maintain proper balance in our feelings toward men we appreciate. We are to render honor to whom honor is due (Romans 13:7). We are to esteem elders “very highly in love for their work’s sake” (1 Thessalonians 5:13), and we presume this would apply to gospel preachers and to all others who help us spiritually. Still, we need to understand that such men who have done so much for us and the cause of Christ, are just that – men. They are fallible, and they can be wrong, or they can become wrong, in teaching and/or practice. We can rightly follow them only to the extent that they follow Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1).
Putting too much confidence in some man will both divide God’s people and keep one from giving Christ the preeminence He deserves and requires (Colossians 1:18). The Corinth example shows the division that will result from such. That men often forsake the doctrine of Christ that they once followed in order to stay with some esteemed friend who has turned aside from the faith illustrates the latter. Probably every heretic who has ever left the faith has taken others with him because of the tendency to “think of men above that which is written.” At least this has happened time after time in our day. Some gospel preacher will publicly espouse some false teaching. There is no reason to deny his soundness since it is a matter of public record. Yet, some who have esteemed him highly because of his past accomplishments, will defend him and will even follow him away from Christ into error because “he is such a good man”. This happened even in New Testament times; some followed Hymenaeus and Philetus when they taught the resurrection to have been already past (see 2 Timothy 2:17-18).
“But, isn’t it true that love ‘taketh not account of evil’”? (1 Corinthians 13:5). Yes, we must be slow to believe all we hear about a person. One’s enemies may falsely accuse. We should not accept rumors. Yet, when it is obvious from what the person himself says that he is in error, love will not cause us to close our eyes to wrong-doing and pretend that all is well. Instead, love for God will cause us to stand for truth and right in spite of past friendships, and love for the brother in error will cause us to do our best to correct him. When he will not be corrected, it will cause us to have fellowship with him no longer in order “that he might be ashamed” (2 Thessalonians 3:14). God must be loved and honored above all men! Let us never think of any “above that which is written”!
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