Christian Living

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Larry Lilly's Letter Tuesday February 3, 2009

We are living through times that many are calling the worst ever. While this is true on a national basis, on the personal side this time for me is rather mild, considering some of the personal times the Lord has brought me through.

What are we to do with "times like these?" Aside from the obvious, trusting God, it is a good thing to continue a special habit, or start this habit, a habit propounded by wise folks of all times, and strongly emphasized in the scriptures.

For starters, Benjamin Franklin expressed this truth in this gem:

"An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest."

Too often we mistake learning a statement about a truth in whatever field as the grasping of the truth of the statement. This is a mistake and an often costly one at that. I deal primarily in religious, or preferably, biblical truth. For a few weeks I asked believers of a few different branches of the Christian faith what it meant when they used the term, "Crucified with Christ?" I had heard each use the term. My question brought the expected "deer in the headlights response." They did not have a clue as to the enormous theological meaning of the statement, a statement that is used many times in the Bible.

You can run the same experiment in your area of expertise and you will be amazed at the response. Take investing for instance. The current Bernie Madoff $50 billion Ponzi scandal is a case in point. Many folks entrusted millions of dollars to Bernie, themselves having enough knowledge about such things to be dangerous. One formerly well healed investor stated, "I knew Bernie knew, so I didn't bother." Each person assumed another person knew, yet the one to whom they were looking had not touched the bases, hence the volcanic explosion.

At least half of the eruptions in our spiritual life are caused by a failure to truly know what statements mean, ignorance as to how to apply them in our daily life, or in a few cases willfully departing from the truth.

"Sully" the heroic U.S. Airways pilot of Hudson River fame gained knowledge necessary for surviving emergencies and in a serious emergency studiously followed procedure. All passengers walked away. Anyone who studies aviation accidents knows that most fatal accidents are a result of pilot error, a departure from established procedure. Sully knew and followed the procedure. PTL.

Christians are instructed to: "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." 2Tim 2:15.

Larry Lilly Copyright © 2009 Use with credit.

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