Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Whining or Shining

Because this is my very first blog I will try to keep it short, and because I am a preacher I will tag my thoughts into a Bible text I have been studying lately. I am preaching from Philippians right now, and just finished the second chapter where Paul wrote, "Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life, in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing." (Phil 2:14-16 NIV)
I am amazed to discover from the text that doing things without complaining and arguing enables a person to shine like a star in a dark universe. The converse of that principle is that whiners and complainers actually create darkness in their surroundings by their words. I mentioned last Sunday that "stinkin' thinkin' leads to smelly talking." So it really does matter what we say, especially in the context of the church environment which is what the Apostle Paul was writing about. If we complain or argue then "the light within us," as Jesus said, "is darkness." (Matt. 6:23), and we create an environment of darkness around us. But people who stop whining start shining like a star in a dark universe. We know that the light from a star travels astronomical distances and can last for billions of years. The effect of its light far transcends its own circumference. The same can be said for the blameless and pure child of God who does everything without complaining or arguing. And Oh, what a blessing they are to everyone! Just a thought. Ed S.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great job Dad! :)

sonja said...

good message...like the layout too!

S. L. Spencer said...

Lookin' good, Ed. Look forward to reading your blogs. Your brother from another mother,
Steve Spencer