Focus On The
Big Picture
A story was told of three young men who inherited a farm from their father.
The decided they were going to make a go of becoming farmers. As planting season
arrived, the three men got up early and walked towards the barn. As they approached,
one of them saw the tractor in horrible shape, so he went to get some parts
to fix it up. Another son saw that the fences were broken, so he went to the
lumber yard and bought the lumber to fix the fences. The third son looked at
the barn and the farm house and decided their farm would look better if they
painted these structures, so he went to town and bought the paint.
As the story goes, they worked on the aesthetics but forgot one thing. The seed
was still in the barn, and thus they did not get it planted, and they failed
in becoming farmers.
Any reputable farmer will tell you that planting the seed is number one on any
list. Afterward, the taking care of the crop is necessary, because if there
is no crop to sell, there is no profit.
There is a similar story in the Old Testament in the book of Haggai.
In chapter 2 verse 19 the question is asked: "Is the seed still in the
barn?"
The passage in Haggai was making a point, and it should ring as true today as
at any time. We sometimes get involved in taking care of the details that the
overall project is lost. Many business owners get involved in aesthetics and
image, that they forget their purpose of business. A lot of restaurant owners
work on the ambience and appearance of their restaurant, but if the food is
bad, it does not matter to the customers how pretty the place is. Some service
companies concentrate on appearance, but if their service is bad, they will
not have any customers.
Let us bring the application to our way of life and the meanings for the church.
We sometimes are guilty of what we call 'window dressing'. We want to portray
a picture of piety and faithfulness towards others, but inside we are guilty
of worldliness. The truth eventually will come out; either being caught by others,
or when we appear before God in judgment.
Some churches work on the building and auditorium to make it look pretty, but
that does not confirm or approve the congregation as being faithful to the Lord.
The problem is that we have failed to see the big picture, and do what our goal
should be. The church has the responsibility of teaching the word of God. That
is what churches should do. Not only inside with the truth coming from the pulpit,
but as each member takes the time to teach others outside of the assembly.
Each Christian should remember that appearance is good and can help to influence
others, and set an example. But appearance is not everything. Our goal should
be the same goal that belonged to Christ and God. God is not willing that any
perish. We should look at souls in the same way and not allow them to perish.
True, most will ignore our pleas to return to God, but that does not give us
the excuse of not even trying. If we are to be like Jesus, we must look to what
Jesus was. He was a servant, first and foremost. We as Christians should be
seeking what Jesus was seeking. To help people get to heaven. Now, here is where
we need to make application of the lesson. We have the word of God in our bibles.
Should we not be sharing this word with others? Should we not be providing the
greatest need known to humankind? God's plan of salvation is man's greatest
need. And we say nothing? There are those who pervert God's plan, and we say
nothing? Do we not care about souls? Until we learn to care about souls, and
expose them to the truth, we will not be like Jesus. That is our goal, is it
not?
Remember in Acts 8 verse 4 the Christians who had been scattered because of
the persecution went everywhere preaching the word. Our application in this
matter is that we should realize that perhaps we have been concentrating on
the "thou shalt not's" so much that we have forgotten our primary
goal. The primary goal is to give Jesus our hearts and bodies for His service,
not ours.
We should be doing whatever we can to encourage our fellow Christians, and teaching
those who are not Christians. If we truly become servants we will seek the better
welfare of others, and not be so selfish to seek our own welfare first. We encourage
them because we see a day approaching when it will be too late. The day when
our Lord returns in the air and gathers up His own, and the rest are gathered
up for judgment. The day of judgment will be the time when our faithfulness
will become evident. If we are truly trying to help others get to heaven, we
will be approved and invited into the feast of the Lord in Heaven. But if we
have been doing nothing more than 'window dressing' and cannot get beyond the
'thou shalt's and thou shalt not's", then we will not be worthy. Don't
get me wrong here, the thou shalt's and thou shalt not's are still important.
We still have to observe and practice them. It is just that we have to practice
them in light of the bigger picture. These are not for our personal use only,
but for us to set the example for others. These are just the tools we need to
be planting the seed. If the seed is not planted there can be no increase, and
our efforts will fail.
Our job is to plant the seed, and the seed is the word of God. We must realize
that it is God who gives the increase. So let us be like the seed sower in Matthew
13. Let us spread the message to all, and perhaps some will fall upon the good
soil.
By Carey Scott Feb.2,2011
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