Back to Basics
Ponder: Keeping things simple
Scripture: “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15 NKJV).
Way back in 1992, astronauts from the space shuttle Endeavour finally captured a wayward satellite. The company that owned it had paid NASA $93 million to catch it, install a booster rocket, and send it into a higher orbit.
Standing on the shuttle’s robot arm, one astronaut tried twice to snag the satellite with a special “capture bar.” It almost worked – but not quite. Success required going back to basics. Three astronauts went out and, at precisely the right instant, grabbed the large, slowly-spinning cylinder . . . with their hands!
Sometimes Christians need to go back to basics. Take evangelism for an example. Multi-million-dollar projects beam the gospel all over the world; mass mail sends evangelistic literature to millions of homes; churches ship cases of Bibles to foreign lands. Each of these has excellent potential, but they are usually effective only when coupled with personal involvement. We must go back to the basics of one Christian teaching the way of salvation to someone else. The early Christians “went everywhere preaching the word” (Acts 8:4).
Reading the Bible is basic, but may be neglected in an avalanche of alternative activities. Helpful audio and video recordings abound for nearly any Bible text or topic. Profitable books also abound. but none can replace the word of God. Personal Bible study is essential to spiritual growth!
Parents ought to go back to basics. It’s great to send your children to Christian camps, Christian colleges, youth gatherings, and Bible classes. All of these put together, however, cannot take the place of the personal training parents are obligated to provide for their children. Especially fathers must raise their children “in the training and admonition of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4). Timothy’s mother trained him from his infancy (1 Timothy 1:5; 3:15).
Creative new ideas can and should be used as long as they are Scriptural. But let us never neglect the basics!
Song: “Lead Me To Some Soul Today”
Prayer: Father, You have blessed us with wonderful new technologies to use in spreading the gospel. Help us to use them to your glory; but let us not become so distracted with them that we forget to do the simple things. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Joe Slater (Justin, TX)