SEVENTY-TWO into ONE

#1 Heritage – Practices or characteristics that are passed down through the years, from one generation to the next. Valued objects and qualities such as cultural traditions, unspoiled countryside, and historic buildings that have been passed down by previous generations. We all want to leave something of ourselves behind...something that will be remembered, appreciated, valued by those coming behind us. Maybe that is why we can still find our Highschool Yearbook somewhere in our possession. College…our wall mounted diploma and do not forget our lifetime friendships. That box full of photos from the days when you actually printed pictures!! For my children…a sampling of my character, personal traits, values, a modest inheritance (Not all my traits granted…just the positive ones). For my grandchildren…a vivid memory of my unconditional love and respect that I have for them. Their knowing that they were “the joy of my heart”. I taught Middle School students in Bible study for 28 years. The members of my first class are now 47 years old! I would like to think that in that brief year I had with each class, I left a mark on their lives that, in a small way, contributed to their success through life. But, at age 72, I am realizing that “elapsed time” is a killer of memories. Memories fade. A lack of “presence” takes a “top of mind” awareness to “seldom a thought”. I am already experiencing that after only two years of retirement. None of that is criticism. It is simply human nature. Memories must be fed or memories fade. Eastman Kodak knew that better than anyone. But God’s statutes do not fade. As David states in this Psalm, His laws, His commands are His time proven legacy…His heritage to us. What we must guard against is allowing “time” to be a killer of our commitment to that heritage. We cannot put His requirements of us in a box and set it on a shelf in the back of the closet. Our Bible should never stay untouched to the point dust collects on its surface. Having those statutes…following and obeying those commands should be the ultimate source of joy for us as Believers. Just as a memory of my mom and my dad spontaneously puts a smile on my face, so should my thoughts of God…and those thoughts should be frequent!! He is the “joy of my heart”! J.P. Psalm 119:111 NIV Your statutes are my heritage forever; they are the joy of my heart. ********************************************************************** #2 Wages - Payment for labor or services. Payment to an employee for work done. Exchange of payment for work. Gifts - A thing given willingly to someone without payment. A present. Something voluntarily transferred from one person to another without compensation. My first job outside of the farm or working for my dad at his service station was the summer after I graduated from high school. I worked “road construction”. Yep…this 110 pound “man of steel” had put on twenty pounds since my football days in the 9th grade and I was ready to put it to work!! I was eager to earn some “real” money. I can remember that first hot summer morning when I showed up at 7:00 A.M. at the construction site greener than broccoli…clueless…vulnerable…lost!! The first thing I was “told” to do (they don’t nicely “ask” you to do something on a construction site) was to unload the jack hammer out of the bed of a truck. I don’t know if you are familiar with that “delicate” piece of equipment…I sure wasn’t!! And yep…it weighed as much as I did…maybe more! I was given a 30 second tutorial and then “told” to go use it. That was not one of my finer moments as a valuable, contributing member of the general workforce! All day I “attempted” to drill holes in rock to prepare for dynamiting later, but that jack hammer walked me all over the county. The next day…I was ”told” to pull the jack hammer out of the truck again and get back at it. My life went by in a flash! I broke out in a sweat with just the thought of snuggling up to that monstrous piece of torture. My hands, wrists and arms had already failed the strength test when I tried to tie my boot laces earlier that morning. I had to use every part of my body to scoot and push and maneuver it off the bed of the truck to start my second day of jack walking v. jack hammering. Eventually I did master the “art” of jack hammering which was only the first of many firsts that summer! All this rambling just to make the point that I worked harder than I had ever worked to earn my “wages” that summer. With this verse from Romans, Paul sums up the entire gospel. He compares the two types of lives he had been describing…the sinner and the righteous. By definition, if we earn the “wages” of sin, we have worked very hard to do so…just like me and my road construction experience. Why would we choose to work at sinning. The alternative is a “gift”…by definition, something transferred to us that we did not have to work for to earn. Paul describes eternal life as God's free gift in Jesus our Lord. When we trust in Him, God gives us credit for Christ's perfect, sinless life. The result, eternal life with Him, sharing in His glory…given as a gift. Paul seems to be asking, "Which do you want?" A life of jack hammering your way to earning the wages of death or to accept a gift…salvation…transferred to you by God without compensation. That choice seems to be as much of a “no brainer” as me discovering that road construction (really…any kind of construction) was not what I wanted as a career path! J.P. Romans 6:23 NIV For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.