Articles
A Sense of Responsibility
A Sense of Responsibility
A doctor entered the hospital in hurry after being called in for an urgent surgery. He answered the call ASAP, changed his clothes and went directly to the surgery wing. He found the boy's father pacing in the hall waiting for the doctor. On seeing him, the dad yelled: "Why did you take all this time to come? Don't you know that my son's life is in danger? Don't you have any sense of responsibility?!"
The doctor smiled and said: "I am sorry, I wasn't in the hospital and I came as fast as I could after receiving the call. And now, please remain calm and I will do my work"
"Calm down?! What if your son was in this room right now, would you calm down? If your own son died, how would you act?" said the father angrily.
The doctor smiled again and replied: "I will say what Job said in the Bible: "From dust we came and to dust we return, blessed be the name of of the Lord.” Doctors cannot give or prolong lives. Go and intercede with God for your son, we will do our best for him by God's grace"
"Giving advice when we're not troubled is so easy," murmured the father.
The surgery took several hours, after which the doctor came out pleased.
"Thank goodness, your son will be okay." And without waiting for the father's reply, he went on his way quickly, saying over his shoulder: "If you have any questions, ask the nurse."
The father turned to the nurse and demanded, "Why is he so arrogant? He couldn't wait a few minutes so that I ask about my son's condition," commented the father.
The nurse answered, tears streaming down her face: "His son died yesterday in a car accident, he was at the funeral when we called him for your son's emergency surgery. And now that he saved your son's life, he left running to complete his son's burial."
Do not judge each other, because you cannot know how their life is unfolding what they're going through. “But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ” (Rom. 14:10).
How Much He Needed Me
A nurse escorted a tired, anxious young man to the bed side of an elderly man. "Your son is here," she whispered to the patient. She had to repeat the words several times before the patient's eyes opened. He was heavily sedated because of the fear and pain of dying from an untreatable heart condition, and he dimly saw the young man standing beside his bed.
He reached out his hand and the young man tightly wrapped his fingers around it, squeezing a message of encouragement. The nurse brought a chair next to the bedside. All through the night the young man sat holding the old man’s hand, and offering gentle words of hope. The dying man said nothing as he held tightly to his hand.
As dawn approached, the patient died. The young man placed on the bed the lifeless hand he had been holding, and then he went to notify the nurse. While the nurse did what was necessary, the young man waited. When she had finished her task, the nurse began to say words of sympathy to the young man.
But he interrupted her. "Who was that man?" He asked.
The startled nurse replied, "I thought he was your father."
"No, he was not my father," he answered. "I never saw him before in my life."
"Then why didn't you say something when I took you to him?" asked the nurse.
He replied, "I also knew he needed his son, and his son just wasn't here. When I realized he was too sick to tell whether or not I was his son, I knew how much he needed me."
“So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves? And he said, He who showed mercy on him. Then Jesus said to him, Go and do likewise” (Luke 10:36-37).
There once was a farmer who grew award-winning corn. Each year he entered his corn in the state fair where it won a blue ribbon. One year, a newspaper reporter interviewed him and learned something interesting about how he grew it. The reporter discovered that the farmer shared his seed corn with his neighbors.
"How can you afford to share your best seed corn with your neighbors when they are entering corn in competition with yours each year?" the reporter asked.
"Why sir," said the farmer, "didn't you know? The wind picks up pollen from the ripening corn and swirls it from field to field. If my neighbors grow inferior corn, cross-pollination will steadily degrade the quality of my corn. If I am to grow good corn, I must help my neighbors grow good corn."
He was very much aware of the connectedness of life. His corn cannot improve unless his neighbor's corn also improves. So it is with our lives. Those who choose to live in peace must help their neighbors to live in peace. Those who choose to live well must help others to live well, for the value of a life is measured by the lives it touches. And those who choose to be happy must help others to find happiness, for the welfare of each is bound up with the welfare of all.
The lesson for each of us is this: if we are to grow good corn, we must help our neighbors grow good corn. If we want to live in peace and pleasantness, we must help our neighbors to live in peace and pleasantness.
A Moments Wisdom
--He who rolls up his sleeves seldom loses his shirt.
--No one can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can begin today and make a new ending.
--Those who pretend to be more than they are raise an expectation they can’t fulfill and so lose their credibility as soon as they are found out.
--Some people will give God anything but themselves.
--People often say that motivation doesn't last. Well, neither does bathing; that's why we recommend it daily.
--Why is it that those with something to say have trouble saying it, while those who have nothing to say at all can’t stop saying it constantly?
--One of the greatest mistakes one can make is to do nothing because we believe we can only do a little.
--Swallowing pride will never give you indigestion.
--People who drink to drown their sorrows should be told that sorrows know how to swim.
--Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you are scared to death.
--The two most important muscles that seem to operate without the direction of the brain are the heart and the tongue.
--Don’t try to keep up with the Joneses until you know where they are going.
--When arguing with a fool, be certain he isn’t doing the same thing.
Upcoming Sermons
1/15/23 AM - What Can Be Accomplished in a Three Year Ministry?; PM - Deborah Stepped Forward
1/22/23 AM - The Sermon of Sermons; PM - Tychicus the Faithful Minister
1/29/23 AM - Decisive Indecision; PM - Guest Speaker: Doug Sanders - The Valley of Dry Bones
2/5/23 AM - Perdition’s Policies; PM - Themed Singing Service: “Treasures Old and New”
2/12/23 AM & PM - “The Thrill of Victory; the Agony of Defeat” (Parts One & Two)
