Tuesday

“My people have committed two sins: 

They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, 

and have dug their own cisterns, 

broken cisterns that cannot hold water.”

~Jeremiah 2:13 NIV~

Reminders of some people you might want to include in your prayers:

• Mrs. Avis Sullivan – Hood Memorial for antibiotics
• Naomi Ott – Feeling better; No longer confused: Seeing doctor Friday
• Kenneth Felker – Using oxygen on daily basis; Unable to work in garden
• Evelyn Bridges – Continues to have health concerns
• P. and A.B. Harrell – Sweet spirit through many health concerns
• Shirley Frazier – Recovering from back surgery
• Kenneth Birch – Keeps going like the energizer bunny; Surgery scheduled
• Linda B. Williams – Surgery scheduled for Friday; Dealing with pain now
• Smiley Conerly – Will have back surgery today
• Caroline Cutrer – Feeling better
• Marsha Bankston – Sweet spirit
• Susan Rimes – Able to be in church again
• Jimmy Schwartz – Able to be at church Sunday
• Carol Jean Gill – Scheduled to come home in a couple of weeks

They pick up a few pebbles and throw them in and wait… no noise.

“Wow! That is REALLY deep… here.. throw some of these great big rocks down there. Those should make a noise.”

They pick up a couple of football-sized rocks and toss them into the hole and wait… and wait. Nothing.

They look at each other in amazement. One gets a determined look on his face and says, “Hey…over here in the weeds, there’s a railroad tie. Help me carry it over here. When we toss THAT thing in, it’s GOTTA make some noise.”

The two drag the heavy tie over to the hole and heave it in. Not a sound comes from the hole.

Suddenly, out of the nearby woods, a goat appears, running like the wind. It rushes toward the two men, then right past them, running as fast as its legs will carry it. Suddenly it leaps in the air and into the hole.

The two men are astonished with what they’ve just seen…

Then, out of the woods comes a farmer who spots the men and ambles over. “Hey… you two guys seen my goat out here?”

“You bet we did! Craziest thing I ever seen! It came running like crazy and just jumped into this hole!”

“Nah”, says the farmer, “That couldn’t have been MY goat. My goat was chained to a railroad tie.”

Like the goat and the railroad tie, there are some concepts in scripture that are “tied” together, and you can’t get rid of one without affecting the other. Take, for example, faith and works.

Faith without works is powerless and ineffective (to use James’ terminology, it is “dead”). Works without faith is an empty shell of ritual. The two biblical principles are so closely intertwined that it is not so much accurate to talk about “faith AND works” as it is “a faith THAT works”.

“For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love.” (Gal. 5:6)

“Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” (James 2:18b)

May your faith be strong enough that it can be seen by those around you through the way you live.

Have a great day!

Alan Smith
Boone Church of Christ
Boone, North Carolina