VOICES FROM THE PAST      

"Too Busy For God" 

Brother John had made a dozen calls in a wide territory trying to sell
insurance. The day was hot, traffic was heavy, and he barely made it home in
time to take a shower, grab a bite to eat, and get to the meeting. He had
hoped to have time to check his boat, ... and he was somewhat irked at having
to lose two hours of cool evening time.

Sister Jane works downtown. She rushed home to heat a few T.V. dinners for
the children, then took a cup of coffee to her room and dressed while they
were eating. She saw them only long enough to argue with the boy .... and to
have it out with the girl about the weird-o costume she wanted to wear. (The
girl got her way.) By now, Jane had a terrific headache and only went to the
meeting because John insisted he should not go alone. They had to race to the
church building, and the girl pouted all the way about her brother getting
the car and not having to go to church, ...

The local preacher had been out all day selling mutual funds certificates and
was peeved that his wife had failed to remind him to pick up old sister
Jones. Such failures hurt his public image. But his wife taught school and
had a parent-teacher meeting that afternoon. She had misplaced the hurried
note about sister Jones ....

So they sang a few songs and called on someone for prayer. The local preacher
welcomed a few visitors and made the usual apologies for the small percentage
of members present with the excuse "of course, we have had some sickness."
Then the visiting evangelist took the floor and looked at his targets. Here
were 130 to 150 tired, business-harried people, most of whom were "up-tight"
and preoccupied with scores of materialistic problems. He must capture their
attention, focus it upon unfamiliar subjects, and lead them to reason and
draw conclusions that, put into practice, would change their whole lives.

These are not BAD people. They do show SOME interest by their presence. A few
will listen, meditate, study - and God will dwell in them. BUT MOST OF US ARE
JUST TOO BUSY FOR GOD!  (Robert Turner, "Stuff About Things", page 78)

************ This Weeks Memory Verse ************

"So like shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if
ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother
their trespasses."  (Matthew 18:35)