Page 2 - Good News February 2012 paper
P. 2

FIRST THINGS FIRST
                 FIRST THINGS FIRST
                FIRST THINGS FIRST
                FIRST THINGS FIRST


               here  is  a  story  told  of  a   King Solomon in all his glory was
               bishop  who  had  the  not clothed as beautifully as they.
          Theaviest  work  load  of  any       And if God cares so wonderfully
          priest  in  the  diocese.  He  was  a   for flowers that are here today and
          good man, a holy man, they said,     gone  tomorrow,  won't  He  most
          and it was well known that he rose   surely care for you, O men of little
          at five o'clock in the morning and   faith? So don't worry at all about
          spent two hours in prayer before     having enough food and clothing.
          his  day  began.  All  the  different   Why be like the heathen? For they
          organizations  and  groups  he  take pride in all these things and
          spearheaded,  prospered  spirit-     are deeply concerned about them.
          ually and materially.                But your heavenly Father already
          However,  many  of  the  younger     knows  perfectly  well  that  you
          clerics thought the old man was      need  them”  (Matthew  6:28-32
          overworked  and  secretly  won-      TLB).
          dered when he would cave in from     Then, I imagine that Jesus paused
          exhaustion.                          and  looked  each  member  of  the
          Their surprise was great when a      crowd  in  the  eye  so  that  each
          conference of bishops gave him,      would understand the importance                http://www.hem-of-his-garment-bible-study.org
          in addition to his other duties, the   of what He had to say next.         Father.  “Come,”  Peter  said,
          responsibility  of  co-ordinating    “And  He  (the  Father)  will  give   “everyone is asking for You.”
          the overseas Missionary Society.     them to you if you give Him FIRST     Jesus replied, “We must go on to
          He threw himself into that work as   PLACE in your life and live as He     other towns as well, and give my
         if he were a young man and that       wants you to. So don't be anxious     message to them too, for that is
         society prospered like everything     about  tomorrow.  God  will  take     why I came”  (Mark 1:38 TLB).
         else under the old man's ministry.    care  of  your  tomorrow  too.  Live   He knew what was ahead of Him
         One  day  his  colleagues  could      one day at a time” (Matthew 6:33-     that  day.  He  had  three  options:
         bear  it  no  longer.  Taking  him    34 TLB).                              One  was  to  get  some  badly
         aside, they asked him his secret.     Just  as  surely  as  Jesus  was      needed  sleep  and  trust  that  the
         “How could you possibly take on       speaking to those people and to       Father Who had sent Him on His
         such a large undertaking without      their needs, He is speaking to us     mission  would  give  Him  the
         sacrificing just a bit here or a bit   and  also  to  our  quest  for  time   strength and the time.
         there of your other duties?”          today.  If we give Him first place in   The second option was, in view of
         The old bishop looked amazed at       our lives, and live as He wants us    all that had to be done, to get up
         their question. “Why, the answer      to live, He has promised to give us   early and get going.
         is simple. The more I have to do,     all that we need.                     The third was to take time to be
         the  more  I  pray.  I  rise  an  hour   Not only did Jesus tell us we can   alone with His Father before His
         earlier in die morning for prayer     trust God for everything when we      work began. Of the three, should
         and  everything  else  I  must  do    put God first, but He gave us the     we choose less than He did?
         during the day just seems to mind     example through His actions.          Paul  wrote,  “...redeeming  the
         itself.”                              One  particular  morning  His  time, because the days are evil”
         How he learned this I never heard.    disciples  woke  up  at  the  usual   (Ephesians  5:16),  upon  which
         But it seems safe to guess it was     time and found Him gone. He had       Wesley  commented,  “With  all
         from  the  Scriptures,  for  Jesus    spent  the  day  before  preaching,   possible care redeeming the time
         Himself  gave  the  words  and  the   healing, walking and mixing with      - saving all you can for the best
         example.  He  was  talking  to  the   the people who closed in on Him.      purposes; buying every possible
         people  who  followed  Him  and       His  disciples  yawned  and  moment out of the hands of sin
         recognised  Him  as  a  great  stretched and said to one another,           and  Satan;  out  of  the  hands  of
         Teacher  because  He  spoke  so       “He is no doubt close by. We'll just   sloth,  ease,  pleasure,  worldly
         compassionately  about  their  look  for  the  nearest  crowd  and          business;  the  more  diligently,
         concerns.  We  can  picture  Him      find Him there.”                      because the present are evil days,
         standing  in  the  midst  of  these   But  everywhere  they  went  the      days  of  the  grossest  ignorance,
         ordinary people, every eye riveted    crowds who had gathered to see        immorality, and profaneness.”
         on Him.                               Jesus,  asked  them,  “Have  you      Let us choose - every day - to put
         “And  why  worry  about  your  seen Jesus of Nazareth today?”               first things first, and God will do
         clothes?  Look  at  the  field  lilies!   At last Simon found Him out in the   the rest!
         They don't worry about theirs. Yet    wilderness alone, praying to His      -Selected












          Die  plek  om  gelukkig  te  wees  is   Ek lees onlangs in 'n verhaal dat   Dit  kan  nie  gekoop  word  nie  en
          HIER. Die manier om gelukkig te      daar twee soorte geluk is: dié wat    beloof ook nie om te hou nie.
          wees, is om ander mense gelukkig     aan  jou  gegee  word,  en  dié       GELUK  IS  JOU  INGESTELDHEID
          te maak.                             waarvoor  jy  moet  werk.  Wat  'n    TEENOOR DIE LEWE.
          - Robert Green Ingersoll             groot waarheid!                       [Met  Goue  Ink  geskrywe,  Junita
                                               'n  Ander  onvergeetlike  wysheid     Joubert,  Daan  Retief  Uit-
          Almal soek geluk. Ons verwag dit     wat ek gelees het, hou ook 'n fyn     gewers,1986].
          en voel dit kom ons toe.             vermaning  in:  blom  op  die  plek
                                               waar jy geplant is!                   “You have put more joy and
                                               Ons dink so dikwels: as ek nou dít    rejoicing in my heart than [they
                                               of  dát  kon  hê,  sou  ek  gelukkig   know] when their wheat and new
                                               wees. As ek dáár gebly het, sou ek    wine have yielded abundantly”
                                               gelukkig wees.                        (Ps. 4:7, Amplified Bible).
                                               Natuurlik  is  daar  dinge  van  buite
                                               wat  die  lewe  van  'n  mens  kan    “You will show me the path of
                                               versoet: 'n mooi omgewing, goeie      life; in Your presence is fullness
                                               hulpmiddels  by  die  verrig  van  'n   of joy, at Your right hand there
                                               taak. Maar geluk as sulks kom van     are pleasures forevermore”
                                               binne.                                (Ps. 16:11, Amplified Bible).
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