Two sorts of people are needed in the church - those who are thankful, and those who are courageous. The words of our title are found in Acts 28:15. Paul was a prisoner on his way to Rome. He felt that God's good provi­dence had been graciously displayed to him from his conversion to the pre­sent time. He had now nearly arrived at the end of the way, and the brethren who were in Rome heard of his proximity to the city and some of them met him. Some had met him at Appii Forum, about 52 miles from Rome. Others met him at the Three Taverns, some 19 miles nearer. The evident concern on the part of these brethren causes Paul to "thank God and take courage."

The text says Paul "thanked God." Here is a for us today, but we see many who are unthankful. Even in our prayers we are prone to "want ­- want - want!" Have you ever consid­ered that you should thank God for what he has already done for you be­fore asking him to bestow further bounties upon you? Ingratitude is something the Lord looks upon with disapproval. When Jesus healed the ten lepers, and only one came back to thank him, he asked: "Where are the nine" (Lk. 17:11-19). The implication is "the nine should have returned in thanksgiving also." My friends, count your blessings! Enumerate them if you can! You will be amazed at all that God has done for you, as the good old song goes. He gave you life - a life in his own image. He has given you the capacity to enjoy that life. If you are a Christian, you know of his many blessings. We feast on his bounty: our eyes drink in the beauty of his world; our bodies subsist on his gracious bread and water. Even our souls feast on the "bread of life," and our burning thirst is quenched by the "living wa­ter." And how do men often react to all of this? They greedily say, "give us more." It is high time we reduced our begging of God and increase our thanksgiving to him. Friend, before you close your eyes in sleep tonight, thank God! Then when you open them in the morning, thank God!

But our text also says Paul "took courage." We have too many discour­aged people in the church (and in the world for that matter). There are so many things to encourage us if we will use them. It would be unrealistic to say there are not discouragements ­there are, and they are common to life. You may take courage though, in spite of them for many reasons. Take cour­age because you have faced some trial or difficulty, and have successfully overcome them. Take courage in that God has promised to help all those who will lean upon him. Amid all the changes of fickle friends, our Rock of refuge is firm. God is all sufficient; he is unchangeable. But that friend you went to for encouragement yes­terday may not be there today. But God is all sufficient; he is unchange­able. Take courage because of God's good promises. You may rest assured that those promises, in all their variety and richness shall never fail. How sweet, how many, and how appropri­ate they are for all our needs! Small wonder Peter called them "great and precious promises." If you are a child of God, take courage that itself holds no dread for you. Be assured that whatever dark and mysterious se­crets it may hold, that Christ knows the answer, for he has trod the "valley of the shadow of " before you, and by his enlightening smile and grace, all shadows will disappear be­fore you!

Time fails us to tell of all things for which we can be thankful; for all things from which we may draw cour­age. But be as Paul; imitate his faith. May it be said of each of us, "he thanked God and took courage." - Bill Moseley

 

 

 

I must have been about 10 years old, but I remember it well! Going across country with my parents and younger brother, Dad decided we were hungry. I can still almost taste those small, round fruit pies that came in a card­board plate and cost a dime! Mom unwrapped them, gave each of us one, and down the road we went, Dad eat­ing as he drove. Then he complained: "Toughest pie crust I ever had; tastes just like cardboard." Maybe that's be­cause cardboard was what he was eating! He thought Mom had taken the pie out of the plate, but there was the cardboard - with two big bites taken out of it!

And so we are - spend a lot of time feeding our minds on the "cardboard junk" of everything in the world - all the way from supermarket tabloids (would you believe this rubbish has been seen in the homes of some Christians?) to TV! We have the "liv­ing waters;" the "bread of life" upon which we can feed, and how often it is neglected! Solomon said: "Bread of deceit is sweet to a man; but after­wards his mouth shall be filled with gravel" (Pro. 20:17). Spend time with "the book" - here you will find true nourishment - not the cardboard junk of the world. - Bill Moseley