The old man said We should we be doing LESS for God, and I agree!

[Cow Poke]

It was his 95th birthday.

As I said in other threads, I love old "sharp" people... I love to hear their stories, ask them where they were when they heard about the attack on Pearl Harbor, at what point in their lives did they have indoor plumbing... anything and everything.

So, when Clarence turned 95, we had a birthday party for him following the morning service. NOTHING like Zella Pillows, because SHE turned 100. (another thread)

But Clarence was wheeled into his favorite spot in the middle isle, at the end of the 7th pew, where he wasn't "too far forward" but "not in the back". And after the music program, and just before the preaching, I looked right at Clarence and said, "I have two questions for you, Brother Clarence".

And he smiled and said "fire away!"

So I asked - "What's it like to be 95 years old"?

And he grinned and said very forcefully... "it's GREAT - there's NO PEER PRESSURE".

Everybody laughed, then i asked the second question...

"so, Tell me..... If you had your life to live over again, what would you do differently"

This time, he bowed his head, and it was really quiet, as he seemed to be deep in thought... then he raised his head and looked eyeball to eyeball at me and said, slowly and clearly...

"If i had my life to live over again... I would do LESS for God....

(there were some soft gasps, but I knew where he was going, and I began to smile)

.....and I would let God do more through me!"

My sermon that morning was "God does NOT need our HELP".... and Clarence's declaration was a perfect launching pad... Too many times, we "help" God... or that may be our intent, but I feel we too often get in his way. (I didn't know Clarence was gonna say that, but it fit right in.)

If we would just OBEY, and do what He asks... and quit trying to "help" Him... but it was even more powerful to me because of Clarence's observation...

Do LESS for God, but let him do more through us!

[robin]

Hi CP

I'm interested in what you had in your sermon. Do you have some notes or verses or anything?

In C
R

[Cow Poke]

Hi CP

I'm interested in what you had in your sermon. Do you have some notes or verses or anything?

In C
R

This was many years ago, and I don't remember everything, but I DO remember it was a sermon on Col 3:17 - whatever you do in word or deed...

I always had a "children's sermon" prior to the regular sermon, where all the little kids would come up and sit on the floor, and I'd sit on the steps leading up to the platform. I would always have something "in my pocket", and ask the kids "anybody guess what I have in my pocket?"

This particular Sunday, it was a work glove. And I dropped the glove on the floor in front of them and said "I am going to command this work glove to pick up this hymnal" (and I dropped a hymnal on the floor by the work glove). I asked the kids how many of them thought that the glove could pick up the hymnal, and, of course, I had a bunch of skeptics.

Then I 'told the glove' to "pick up the hymnal", and waited... nothing.. told the glove AGAIN, nothing... then I put my hand inside the glove, and told the glove again, "pick up the hymnal", and, naturally, it DID! The "object lesson" was that the Holy Spirit INSIDE us can help us do things... (there was a lot more to it, but that got things started) The Holy Spirit INSIDE us would PROBABLY not tell us to punch the kid next to us in the nose! If we allow the Holy Spirit to guide us, we're more likely to be obedient to God, etc...

Sometimes we "help" God by doing things we THINK He wants done... Saul was seeking to kill Christians because He believed Christianity was anti-God (or whatever)... Abraham and Sarah "helped God" by having a child by a handmaid, because Sarah was "too old"...

I remember relating the story of my younger days when Dad assigned the task of cleaning out the garage to me. I noticed his car was dirty, and decided THAT was a more noble task. I got a bucket of water, and some of these "new fangled pink soap pads" (they were "new" back then, and actually just a steel wool pad full of cleanser) and I washed Dad's car with a Brillo pad. YOUCH, was Dad mad! Paint was scratched up pretty bad... And Dad, in one of is very RARE "yelling" performances, said "Why didn't you JUST DO WHAT YOU WERE TOLD!!!!"

How many times, as Christians, do we "Help God" by doing things He really didn't need us to do, and it would have been SO much better if we had just focused on what he already ASKED us to do!

So, Brother Clarence's testimony was priceless, and fit right in... Let's do LESS "for God", and let Him do more through us - whatsoever we do in Word or Deed....

Something like that