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2020-02-26 to 28 Pictures: Charleston, South Carolina

One of the few upsides of having to cancel our Spring Break trip last March at the onset of the pandemic is that we are "stuck" with a rather large voucher from one of those discount airlines. Last autumn, Tricia and I spent a weekend in Savannah, Georgia and had a...

A John 3:16 Craft for Kids

John 3:16 is one of the most well known and reassuring verses in the Bible. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.John 3:16 (NIV) The following is a little craft I threw...

2020-03-01 Pictures: Lyndsey’s College Signing Day

This afternoon Lyndsey made it official, signing her letter of intent to play college basketball for the Hiram College Terriers starting next year. While she made the decision and committed to Hiram before Christmas, she has been looking forward to this day since her...

2020-02-13 Pictures: Lyndsey’s 18th Birthday

I am little behind on posting photos. These are some of my favorites from a couple of weekends ago when we got a chance to celebrate Lyndsey's 18th birthday. It's hard to believe that my little girl is officially an adult. It was nice to have the family all back...

What is DOCTRINE?

Introduction I love working with kids, and I love teaching them hard concepts in ways they can understand. To that end, for years I have been working on a dictionary of theological terms for kids and teens. In sharing those definitions, there seemed no better place to...

If You Want It Done Right

In all likelihood, you know how the phrase ends: If you want it done right, DO IT YOURSELF! This is a bit of a mantra for me, and frankly, something that I struggle with daily both in leadership and in my Christian walk.  In theory, this is easy to accept. ...

What Does God Hate?

This is the little and humble post that started it all. I happened to be reading through my Bible, and this passage impacted me so much that I posted a little blurb about it on Facebook. That was July 28, 2008, and I've been writing and sharing ever since. (Maybe...

Obadiah and Elijah (Synopsis of Come Ye’ Children – Chapter 19)

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This short chapter continues Spurgeon’s observations from the previous two chapters based on the story of Elijah and Obadiah.  It begins with yet another observation on the benefits of early piety.  Spurgeon notes:

“YOUTHFUL PIETY LEADS on to persevering piety.”

Obadiah observed that, “I thy servant fear the LORD from my youth.”  [1 Kings 18:12 KJV]”   He was able to proclaim this because time had not changed him or waivered his faith in God.  Obadiah had “run the race” and persevered.  Many people exalt martyrs who die for their faith, but Spurgeon explains:

“It is not burning quick to the death in martyrdom that is the hard work; roasting before a slow fire is a far more terrible test of firmness…the grace of God to preserve a believer for ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty years, is quite as great a miracle and deserves more of our praise than it usually commands.”

Rather than succumb to the popular notions of his day that included the worship of Baal, Obadiah stood firm in the belief in God that he had come to early in life.  He also held fast to his piety despite his wealth and position.  He worked in the court of the King, in the court of a King and Queen who were adverse to belief in God, and despite all that position offered, he remained faithful to God.  Spurgeon observes:

“There is nothing more perilous to a man than to prosper in this world and become rich and respectable.”

Indeed in terms of our spiritual journey, success is often harder to deal with than failure.  Finally, Spurgeon speaks to the “comfort” of early piety later in life:

“It will be a great comfort to people, when old, to look back upon a life spent in the service of God. You will not trust in it, you will not think that there is any merit in it; but you will bless God for it. A servant who has been with his master from his youth ought not to be turned adrift when he grows grey. A right-minded master respects the person who has served him long and well.”

Links to Complete Text

If you’re interested in reading the complete text of “Come Ye Children,” it can be found on at: http://www.spurgeon.org/misc/cyc.htm

The complete text of Chapter Nineteen can be found at: http://www.spurgeon.org/misc/cyc19.htm

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Return to the Come Ye’ Children (A Synopsis) index page.

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