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THE NORTHERN KENTUCKY SEARCHER VOLUME 4, NUMBER 7, FEBRUARY 15, 2004 A LONELY WORLD – PART 3 Friends and brethren, man needs God. He needs His wisdom, His guidance, His power, and His mercy. When we try to exist apart from God all of those resources are lost. We can see it in the world in which we live. Today man is trying to build a better world, leaving God out of the picture as they do so, and where has it gotten us? Without God there can be no peace, no harmony, no true happiness and contentment. The consequences of a lack of God, as seen in our world, is more selfishness, more empty pursuit of material wealth, more emotional and spiritual isolation, and more loneliness. But all is not lost and we are not without a solution to the devastating problem of loneliness. When man repents and turns back to God, he rediscovers his true purpose in life. Going back to Paul’s address on Mars’ Hill, we find in v. 30 of Acts 17, “And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent.” God wants us to acknowledge our need for Him. When we accept our need for God and turn to Him in obedient faith, God redeems us from sin and gives our lives meaning again. Brethren and friends, that is the ultimate cure for loneliness. In becoming a child of God through obedience to the gospel I have found a relationship that will not fail – ever. God will sustain me, forgive me, and love me as I walk in the light of His revealed Word. As long as I remain faithful I will never lose my purpose or my direction again. I will always have a steadfast companion who will be there for me. With God I am never alone. But there is more. When I became a Christian, I found myself part of a family that is even closer than my blood relationships. I have thousands and thousands of brothers and sisters in Christ who have also been born again. I love them and they love me. Once added to that family I have many relationships with many people, all of whom are forgiven sinners just like me. In that atmosphere I am never alone. Let me tell you one more practical benefit. By being a Christian, by learning to put God first, others second, and myself third, every other relationship of my life is better too. Oh, brethren and friends, so many people are lonely and are waiting for the right person or maybe the right “cause” to come along and make them happy. They wait for the right spouse or maybe the right job – whatever. But in truth, there is nothing outside of God that can fill the hunger within the human soul permanently. No person, no cause, no amount of money or possessions can ever really cure loneliness. Only by submitting to God, only by seeking God through the Lord Jesus, only by rendering obedience to the gospel of Christ, can a person fill the void that is there. Greg Litmer WEEDSA few weeks ago I received notice that my lawn care company had been sold but that I could rest assured that I would be receiving the same great service that I had always received at the same low price. Oh boy!! Anyway, that got me to thinking about weeds and an article I had written awhile back. Maybe you will find it helpful. I was standing in my minuscule backyard a couple of days ago and it occurred to me that with this recent heat-wave (this was written in the summer several years ago) the only thing growing in my yard are the weeds. The grass is starting to dry up, the bare spots are no longer just dirt, they have degenerated to dust; the few flowers have withered and died, but the weeds continue to thrive. Every week I pull those things, weed-eat the ones I don’t pull, and chop down the ones too big to whack with my weed-whacker. But every week they come back and seem to bring friends with them. It reminded me of the parable of the Sower from Luke 8. Jesus said, “A sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell by the wayside; and it was trodden down, and the fouls of the air devoured it. And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up it withered away, because it lacked moisture. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it. And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold.” My weeds are like thorns. In v. 14, Jesus gave this explanation of the thorns. “And that which fell among thorns are they, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.” For many of us the temptations that give us the most trouble are like weeds. We battle them, we fight them, we struggle with them on a daily basis and they keep coming back. If I quit worrying about the weeds for awhile and just let them go unchecked, they take over. In my yard the weeds require steady attention. Temptation is like that too. Peter wrote in 1 Pet. 5:8, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.” We simply must be vigilant, aware that Satan wants us back. I don’t know what particular temptation you might have to deal with. I don’t know what it is that gives you the most trouble and that causes you the most pain. I suspect that we all have something or some area in our lives that Satan attacks most frequently. But I know that none of us have to be overrun by the “weeds” of temptation. In 1 Cor. 10:13, Paul wrote, “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able, but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” In my backyard I am winning the battle with the weeds. I’m not sure where they keep coming from, but they are not going to get the better of me. In my life I’m winning too. Satan is not going to get the better of me. I will not be overrun. I know where temptation comes from and I will not let Satan win the war. We can all be like God’s gardeners, rooting out the “weeds” of temptation, cultivating as perfect a life as possible, until we get to go home. Greg Litmer
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