Month: January 2019

My Grandfather was a good and wise man. When I was a boy with more brass than shame, I asked my Grandfather to give me a dollar. A dollar was a great amount to a child in those days. The pennies that Dad gave me every once in a while were quickly spent on candy at the corner store. I cannot remember whether I ever possessed a dollar to that point in my life. To my surprise Grandfather said, “Yes, I will give you a dollar. If you will memorize a Scripture and recite it back to me perfectly, I will give you a dollar.” He took his Bible, turned to the first of the Psalms, and read,

“Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.

And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.

Therefore, the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.”

With the help of my Mom, I memorized the Psalm. When I came to Grandfather, I proudly recited the entire Psalm with perfection. I got my dollar. It took decades to incorporate this wisdom into my worldview. When I have followed the words of this Psalm, I have been blessed and able to bless others. When I have not followed the words of this Psalm, I have lived a life of harm to myself and others. Only a new birth in Jesus Christ brought me into the full benefit of the wisdom that Grandfather tried to infuse in my life.

With the grace of God and our obedience to Jesus Christ, each of us can have a wonderful season of fruitfulness. Virtue can abound in our lives. The spiritual prosperity that has accumulated in my life began when I was drawn out of the counsel of the ungodly, taken out of the path of sin, and I no longer sit in the seat of the scoffer. This is understanding that will carry us from this life safely into the next. We can scoff at that idea and mock those who follow that way, but in the end, “The LORD knows the way of the righteous: but they way of the ungodly shall perish.”

George Cargill

Dedicated to the memory of Porter T. Cargill July 5, 1893-February 8, 1969

One time after a bad day at school, I decided to run away from home. School was the problem in my mind and home was my favorite place. That sixth-grade teacher was what made me run away. But I have to reflect that I often must have made her think of taking up another profession. But I could not just run away from school because Dad and Mom would only send me back. I really had no idea where I was going except “away.” Things went fine for the first hours. I lived in a small city, so I knew the way around. I was not lost. As the hours went past, uneasiness grew. Hunger being a great motivator, I began debating with myself whether to go home and face the music. It was beginning to get dark as I walked down a road just outside of town. Headlights of a car fast approached. A startled cat ran out from the ditch in front of me and tried to dash across the road. The front wheel of the car struck the cat and flipped it up in the air. The poor thing’s lifeless body landed right at my feet. Time to go home.

When I got back to my street, I saw several men in front of the house talking with my Dad. I sneaked around by the back yard and along to the front of the house where I hid behind a shrub by the front door. “I think he will probably come home after a while,” Dad said. He thanked the men and they left. I could hear my Mom crying for her lost boy. I was not lost, but neither was I “found.” I was hiding. But as far as Mom was concerned, I was lost. Finally, I came out to receive whatever consequences were going to fall from Dad. To my relief, tearful Mom gathered me into her arms and took me into the house, drew a bath for me and washed me like a baby. She told me she loved me and asked me never to do such a thing again. With tears she thanked Jesus over and over again.

Jesus told numerous stories about finding lost people. It was His mission as Savior of the world. “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”[i]The Bible word which has an English translation “lost” has a more intense meaning than something that is not found. It also can be translated “destroyed” or “perished.” The word when translated “lost” has the sense of being “totally” or “irretrievably lost.”[ii] Jesus has come to do what many think is impossible. To bring a new birth to people and to bring them into a relationship with Him. When someone receives Jesus in repentance and faith, they are “found” and no longer “lost.” They now they have eternal life and will not perish.

Many people are insulted or become angry when told that they are lost. They know where they are. Some have a definite plan for their life. Most are living life the way they want. But like an eleven-year-old boy who ran away from his family, people are lost, not because they do not know where they are, but because they are not in a right relationship with Jesus Christ. Come out from walking in the darkness into the light and be “found.”

George Cargill

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[i] Luke 19:10

[ii] p 230, The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament, Zodhiates – AMG Publishers – 1994