Thursday, February 28, 2019

"Call Me"

The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe…


"Call Me!"


  Over the years, we've shared the story several times of a woman who was hired by a textile factory to operate a loom.  She had never used such a device before, but her boss  quickly taught her how to operate the fairly simple machine.  As he concluded the training, he adopted a very serious attitude and tone of voice.  "My dear," he said, "there is one main thing you must remember about operating this device."  He paused for a moment and then expressed his final instruction.  "If the thread of your loom tangles, no matter how small the knot, do not try to fix it yourself.  Instead, call me!"

   Things went well for the first several hours.  The simple mechanism of the machine seemed flawless, and the woman enjoyed her duties.  However, just before her lunch break, the loom hesitated and stopped.  Perplexed, the woman looked into the machine and quickly observed that the tiniest of knots had developed on one strand of green thread.  She remembered her boss's admonition about not attempting to fix the snarled strand herself.  The knot, however, seemed so insignificant, and…

  You know what happened.  A small knot developed into a major tangle as the woman disregarded her boss's mandate.  Petrified, she hesitated to call the man.  However, she knew she had no choice and finally beckoned him to her loom.  He approached her with a gentle, but obviously disappointed look on his face.  Before saying a word, he reached into the tangled threads and quickly restored the loom to working order.  Then he looked at the flustered woman, now nearly in tears.  "My dear, I'm sure you recall what I said about not attempting to fix any knots, regardless of how small.  Why didn't you call me?"  The woman looked into her boss's face and responded with a quivering voice.  "I know what you said, sir, but, but… I just wanted to do my best!"  The man smiled as she sought to assuage the woman's dismay.  He paused for a moment, and then said in a voice gentle, but with solemn seriousness. "My dear," he said, "Doing your best would have been calling me!"

   "Casting all your cares upon Him for He careth for you… Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might" (I Peter 5:7; Ephesians 6:10).

   God calls born again believers in the Lord Jesus Christ not to do our best, but to do His best.  Certainly we want to bear the attitude and intention of excellence in all we do.  "Whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God" (I Corinthians 10:31).  However, we must remember the standard of life to which our Heavenly Father calls us, the standard of His Son.  "Walk, even as He walked" (I John  2:6).  Thus, we must call on Him for the wisdom, knowledge, strength, and guidance to operate the loom of our lives.  This is especially true of knots, or the challenges we face in every aspect of our existence.  "He is their strength in time of trouble" (Psalm 37:39).  Our Heavenly Father knows how to untangle the snarls of our lives, even those self-imposed when we forget His first mandate: "Call unto Me" (Jeremiah 33:3).  Solomon and the Apostle Paul unite to conclude our consideration and confirm our calling to "Call"...

"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding.  In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths."
(Proverbs 3:5-6)
"We are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh."
(Philippians 3:3)

Weekly Memory Verse
  "Call unto Me and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not."
(Jeremiah 33:3)
  

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