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Spam
“Above all things have
fervent love for one another, for
‘love will cover a multitude of sins.’” (1 Peter 4:8)
The “spam”
(junk email) you and I receive on the Internet is frustrating. We
get hundreds and hundreds of messages – So many that it’s sometimes
impossible to tell the good from the bad, the real from the fake.
When someone asks, “Why didn’t you answer
my message,” I reply, “Please send
it again; I may have accidentally deleted it.” And that may
be what happened, for a lot of the “spammers” imitate legitimate
emails to the point where most of us have deleted “good” emails,
just trying to NOT open one that might contain something like a
virus or pornography. Isn’t it amazing that so many will take a
wonderful communication tool like the Internet and turn it into
junk?
The titles of spam emails are interesting. All
are trying to catch our attention in one way or another. Some of
the spellings are terrible, which is a “tip-off” that the content is
not what we want. A classic was a few days ago, when we got one
with the title, “On-Line Valium,”
which sums-up a lot of messages – There is an empty-headed, vacant
quality to many emails containing titles like, “Thanqk
you for appulying for a mortage luon” which we never applied
for and wouldn’t spell it like that if we did. “On-Line
Valium” is unfortunately the content of many spam-filled
messages.
People with creative minds and talents will
spend days, weeks or however long it takes to fashion a “virus”
intended to wreck our computers! Amazing! Incredibly, these are
DELIBERATE acts, designed to have “fun” by spoiling it for everyone
else. A virus-caused disease in the human body is a tragedy that
brings sorrow to victims and families. A virus in your computer, on
the other hand, is the premeditated act of someone who wants to fool
you. The real “fool” is the one
who creates and sends such things, trying to deceive others. As
Solomon said, “the folly of fools is deceit”
(Proverbs 14:8).
William Penn Adair Rogers (Will Rogers –
1879-1935) asked: “If stupidity got us
into this mess, then why can't it get us out?” And that
raises a question. Why DON’T some of those who can CREATE such
things as computer viruses, instead make programs to STOP them? Now
there’s a challenge – I challenge you to do something that will HELP
other people, not hurt them. A month ago, we read the newspaper
account of a legally-blind man in Portland, Maine, who rescued a
drowning child by following their voice until he was able to get
them out of the water. A hero! What we need in this world is less
fools, less deceit and more heroes – Don’t you agree? The hero in
Maine gave the credit to God, by the way:
“I didn’t do it,” he said. “God
did it!” And that’s the truth.
Here’s my definition of the words “hero” and
“fool” if you’re interested: The person who helps others in a
significant way is a hero. Especially when you, the hero,
acknowledge that it was really God who enabled you to do that good
thing. The one who deliberately does harm is a fool. And the fool
tends to deny God. As David observed, many centuries ago: “The
fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God’” (Psalm 14:1).
We need to really CARE for other people,
instead of harming them. As the Apostle observed in 1 Peter 4:8, “Above
all things have fervent love for one another,” and he quoted
Proverbs 10:12, “for ‘love will cover a
multitude of sins.’” Indeed it does.
Ted W. Engstrom, in “The
Pursuit of Excellence,” cited an instance in the life of Babe
Ruth, the man who hit 714 home runs during his baseball career, but
was playing one of his last major league games. “His
agility was gone. He fumbled the ball, threw badly, and in just one
inning his errors were responsible for most of Cincinnati’s runs.
As he walked off the field, boos reached his ears.” Engstrom
continued, “Just then, a boy jumped over
the railing onto the playing field. With tears streaming down his
face, he threw his arms around the legs of his hero. Ruth didn’t
hesitate. He picked up the boy, hugged him, and set him down on his
feet, patting his head gently. The boos from the stands came to an
abrupt halt. Suddenly there was no more booing. In fact, a hush
fell over the entire park. In those brief moments, the fans saw two
heroes: Ruth, who in spite of his dismal day on the field could
still care about a little boy; and the small lad, who cared about
the feelings of another human being. Both had melted the hearts of
the crowd.”
Babe Ruth couldn’t do well as a baseball player
anymore, but he could show love to one small boy – And he did! The
boy committed a selfless, loving act, which inspires other people to
this very day. Most people DON’T do good for others, even if they
idly think about doing so, because the good they do might cause
“personal inconvenience.” Their own lives might be disrupted – It
would interfere with “fun.”
Someday, however, we will all face God, and He
will ask us about the deeds we have done in this world; in the
bodies He has loaned us for a time. What will you tell Him? Will
He be struck by your argument that helping someone else would have
caused you “personal inconvenience.” I don’t think so, and when you
think about it, neither do you.
We’re all sinners. That’s the teaching in
places like Isaiah 64:6 and Romans 3:23, and we desperately need a
Friend to help us, for something is wrong with all humanity. You
and I need the Lord, for by ourselves we are unrighteous in the
sight of God. Jesus’ enemies complained about Him, arguing that “this
man receives sinners and eats with them” (Luke 15:2).
Exactly! Jesus Christ did not come to the “righteous” of this world
because there aren’t any. He came to people like you and me. He
said, “I have not come to call the
righteous, but sinners, to repentance” (Luke 5:32). Paul
gave us good news when he said: “Christ
died for the ungodly” (Romans 5:6).
Now true “repentance”
from ungodliness leads us to love. But this is not the shallow love
that you’ve seen on earth - Instead “The
love of GOD has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who
was given to us” (Romans 5:5). That kind of love “will
cover a multitude of sins” (1 Peter 4:8). It is good to
love, and true love comes from Him. He will replace your “spam”
with His love.
Are your sins covered by His love today? –
Father, I need Your love. I need You! Please show me Your love
through Jesus Christ, who died for me. Forgive me of the harm I
have done. Enable me to love. In Jesus Name. Amen.
Ron Beckham, Pastor
Friday Study Ministries
www.FridayStudy.org
www.FirstChurchontheNet.org
www.BlessedHands.org
E-mail:
Ron@FridayStudy.org
Tel: (562) 688-5559
PO
Box 92131
Long Beach, CA 90809-2131
"While
we were yet sinners, Christ died for us"
(Romans
5:8)
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