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