Daily Jewel

by Pastor Carnell, McAlester, OK
Feb. 3 2012

“Gathering Eternal Truths!”
“Get wisdom...Get understanding…” – Proverbs 4:5

From time to time I like creating an “acrostic.” For those who may have forgotten your high school English, an acrostic is a poem or other form of writing in which the first letter, syllable or word of each line, paragraph or other recurring feature in the text spells out a word or a message.
One of the most famous acrostics was made in Greek for the acclamation JESUS CHRIST, GOD'S SON, SAVIOUR (Greek: Ιησούς Χριστός, Θεού Υιός, Σωτήρ; Iesous CHristos, THeou Yios, Soter — ch and th being each one letter in Greek). The initials spell ICHTHYS (ΙΧΘΥΣ), Greek for fish – hence the frequent use of the fish as a symbol for Jesus Christ from the early days of Christianity to the present time. (Wikipedia)
Today’s acrostic is taken from one of the words in the verse above. In this verse Solomon is telling us to do something that will make our lives better. Something that will help to increase our ability to grow as a person and as a Christian. It begins by GATHERING. To “gather” means to accumulate…or what is even a better word—harvest. We have lived is several communities where farming was the predominate means of support for many a family. During harvest the entire community gets involved. In fact, the community becomes almost one big family. And when there is a good harvest everyone benefits.
When we gather what is available to us from the mind and heart of God—we “reap” the benefit but the beauty of our harvest is that others benefit as well. When we become better people by learning from God—it cannot help but spread to others.
What are we gathering? That which is ETERNAL!! By using the previous analogy, each year for there to even be a harvest the farmer has to sow seeds. The seeds of life that Solomon bids us to “gather” were sown from the beginning and they are without question eternal. They do not change—they cannot be altered—they are solid. So what we are setting out to do is to harvest that which will give and give and give!
Finally, the last part of the acrostic—we are to gather eternal TRUTHS! Truths that were established by God and are maintained by God. And since they are “eternal,” they do not change despite how many make the attempt to either change them or deny them. Here is a good example: Chuck Colson, founder of Prison Fellowship, was in a meeting with the chairman of a giant publishing company who boasted, "Our newspaper chain was instrumental in the removal of the Ten Commandments from the walls of our public schools." Colson asked him why he thought they should be removed, and the CEO answered, "They offend people from other religions; and besides, we must separate church and state." Later in the same meeting this same executive brought up the subject of juvenile crime. He asked, "What are we going to do about the rising rate of teen delinquency? Occurrences of theft on the school campus have increased at an alarming rate over the past decade. What can we do?" Chuck Colson said, "Maybe we should put a sign on the wall that says, 'Thou shalt not steal'." The newspaper man said, "That's a good idea!",br /> G.E.T. wisdom…G.E.T. understanding. Gather…Eternal…Truths! Dig deep. Read. Listen. Pray. Get all that is there for you to reap and glean. It will be worth it.
Pastor J. T. Carnell