In 2004 a German Shorthair puppy came to live with us. While she still runs most everywhere she goes, her muzzle is gray and before she jumps on the tail gate of the truck, she pauses as if to consider what is ahead of her. Sometimes she walks away instead of leaping. Instead of calling her by her given name, I have started calling her "Old Girl" as she runs ahead of this old man who slowly plods behind her. The old man who follows her is mostly worn out. John Wesley's preachers of which I am one, used to be spoken of as being "worn out." It is a good description of this one. I am not as "rar-in to go" as I used to be. And while there are times I have a spurt of holy energy, I am mostly worn out. Maybe there is a little left in the tank to be used one day, but I wonder if such thoughts speak more of hope than reality.
What is truly worn out is my old Bible. When I went to Vidalia UMC, I went with a shabby pulpit and study Bible. I figured it had to be replaced lest people thought I was more of a Biblical scholar that I knew myself to be. So, I bought two Bibles, exactly alike, except one was black and one was blue. I started using the black one for study and for use in the pulpit. By the time I went to my next appointment, it, too, had gotten shabby so I kept it for study and used the blue one only for the pulpit. Only recently have I realized this black Bible has got to be retired. The cover is about gone, too many pages are torn, and most of the not inspired material in the back has been damaged beyond use. It looks like I am going to have to bring out the blue Bible and put the other one in a box where old Bibles reside.
Things just wear out. Dogs do. Preachers do. Bibles do. Old men like me do as well. The only thing we have which is the exception to this rule is the soul. Our creator has put one in each one of us. Nary a one is like another. The most important thing we tend in this life is this soul within us. It is our connection to God. It is the means through which we have fellowship with God and it is through it that we will experience eternity with God in the heavenly place. There is no collection place for worn out souls. They are made to go on and on and on forever in the eternity being readied for us in this very moment.
What is truly worn out is my old Bible. When I went to Vidalia UMC, I went with a shabby pulpit and study Bible. I figured it had to be replaced lest people thought I was more of a Biblical scholar that I knew myself to be. So, I bought two Bibles, exactly alike, except one was black and one was blue. I started using the black one for study and for use in the pulpit. By the time I went to my next appointment, it, too, had gotten shabby so I kept it for study and used the blue one only for the pulpit. Only recently have I realized this black Bible has got to be retired. The cover is about gone, too many pages are torn, and most of the not inspired material in the back has been damaged beyond use. It looks like I am going to have to bring out the blue Bible and put the other one in a box where old Bibles reside.
Things just wear out. Dogs do. Preachers do. Bibles do. Old men like me do as well. The only thing we have which is the exception to this rule is the soul. Our creator has put one in each one of us. Nary a one is like another. The most important thing we tend in this life is this soul within us. It is our connection to God. It is the means through which we have fellowship with God and it is through it that we will experience eternity with God in the heavenly place. There is no collection place for worn out souls. They are made to go on and on and on forever in the eternity being readied for us in this very moment.
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