Throughout my ministry, I have tried not only to say to others, PRACTICE WHAT YOU PREACH, but also to do so myself. Like you, I am a sinner and fall short of what God wants me to do. Since I began to write a Devotion and a Thought to be posted each day, I have been told that I am working too hard and need to rest. I would respond that I have a commitment to God and to you, the Visitors to this page, to have a new posting each day. This is just a carryover from the days before my retirement. I never had a scheduled day off because there was always so much that needed to be done.

In the last 24 hours, I began to think abut this. First I realized my age, and also the post polio results of overworked nerve cells wearing out. Many nerve cells were destroyed when I was 16 in 1952, and polio became my companion for the rest of my life. Other nerve cells tried to take over and now they are getting tired.  I continue to lose strength and the use of certain muscles. During these thoughts, Remember the Sabbath Day to Keep It Holy, came to my mind. It was then that I realized that I had not been practicing what I preached. I would tell parents that if they did not want their children to swear, lie, cheat, steal, get drunk, fight, use drugs, etc., then they should not do those things either. I have no idea how many times I have preached about or taught this commandment -- I only know that in my own way, I have not kept it.

So, what do I do now? I have made confession of this to God and have thanked Him for using others to help reveal this shortcoming to me. I have made the decision that I will no longer write DEVOTIONS or RAMBLING THOUGHTS on Sundays.

For nearly 45 years I did not realize how I was disobeying God in this way. I feel relief from a tenseness that I did not know that I had. It is such a good feeling that I highly suggest that you examine your life to see if you are PRACTICING WHAT YOU PREACH.

GOD’S PEACE. SEE YOU AT THE HOUSE.

03/09/07