Musick-al Note # 304
Did you ever have or try to use a desk or chest drawer that was hard to open? Exasperating, isn’t it? Something is usually wrong for manufacturers do not design desks with hard to open drawers. Many things happen to those drawers which cause such a condition. They may become swollen and warped by dampness. They may be dropped, roughly used or overloaded. They may not have been securely fastened together or have inadequate support. The bottom of some desk drawers fall completely out, making them only a shell. Whatever the cause, such a drawer is hard to use or worse, impossible to use at all.
Did you ever know or observe a Christian whose actions reminded you of the descriptions of desk drawers? Exasperating to try to work with them, isn’t it? He who made us and bought us did not have such in mind for He wanted Christians to be zealous of good works (Ephesians 2:10, Titus 2:14). Yet there are Christians who have become swollen and warped by sin and thus cannot be used. Other have been converted then dropped to succeed or fail without the careful nurture of older fellow-Christians. Some have been roughly used and broken by the unthinking cruelty of those who should have lifted them up. A few Christians have been overloaded with things for which they were never designed to carry and unable to handle. In all fairness to the brotherhood, a few Christians lacked dedication and consecration so that they have simply come apart in use. Part of these may have lacked adequate support when their load began to get heavy and they could not stand the strain. Then there are those how seem to work easily and appear from the outside to be very good that simply will not carry anything. In the language of the drawer, the whole bottom is gone. They have plenty of support, are in the place they ought to be, but the carry nothing. A hypocrite, you say? Yes, declaring to be a Christian, acting like a Christian, in the place where Christians are found, but only a shell, doing nothing and carrying no load. One other problem with desk drawers comes to mind. It is the one that will move only so far and no more. There seems no reason for its failure, the support is excellent, the construction is faultless and the contents adequate by not overloaded. The trouble? Something in the back is out of place and wedges against the support or against another drawer. A thorough cleaning and straightening to the back of the drawer will take care of the matter. Christians may have something from the past or a secret sin that has risen to wedge against others that causes them to cease working or work only a little. A cleaning and straightening will take care of this also. In cleaning a drawer, one will clean all the way to the back and take out the offending article, but Christians may have too much pride to admit failure and sin in their past and do not wish to reveal and clean it out. Until they are clean, they cannot be used properly in the Lord’s kingdom. A Christian can carry a great load if he keeps the load in its proper place, gives himself to usefulness and turns from every sin. A joy to know, marvelous to behold and encouraging to work with such a Christian, isn’t it?
Gordon Musick
Musick-al Notes 