Henderson; Religion: ‘Angels’ Food’ Weekly Devotional

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October 22, 2011

The value of clumsy oxen

Anonymous Dalton Daily Citizen The Dalton Daily Citizen Sat Oct 22, 2011, 02:10 AM EDT

“Where no oxen are, the crib (animal food bin) is clean: but much increase is by the strength of the ox.” (Proverbs 14:4).

Visualize a beautiful, white painted barn without any animals, kept endlessly clean, there is not a speck of dust or even one pesky fly. The multiple miles of rolling hills are beautifully groomed with grass and trees only to be admired and photographed by society rather than filled with fruit and vegetables that will better peoples’ lives.

Now visualize that same barn filled ankle deep with oxen wastes all over its dirt floors and walls. Unsanitary mega-size green flies swarm every inch inside and outside the filthy barn. Such filthy oxen plowed the fields that filled the rolling hills with a bumper crop of fruit and vegetables for human consumption.

The filth and unsanitary condition of the barn in the above paragraphs is a perfect picture of the sins and failures of religious people who have had a relationship with God and Jesus since the beginning of creation to the moment you are reading this devotional. We church leaders have been destructive with the souls of people, like oxen raging wild in an expensive china shop.

If first humans (Adam and Eve) had not sinned, we all would have been born sinless just like our Lord Jesus. Before Abraham conceived the nation of Israel, his adultery with his Egyptian maid first conceived modern day bin Laden and al-Qaida. King David of Israel (author of many comforting Psalms in our Bible) committed adultery and murdered her husband so David could have Bathsheba as his adulterous wife. David even wrote scriptures for our Bible while in bed sick with a sexually transmitted disease (Psalms 38:7).

When Jesus preached one sermon, the majority of all his church members forsook him, and he had to begin his worldwide religion all over again (John 6:66). The treasurer of his religion (Judas) constantly stole from the treasury, plus betrayed Jesus to be arrested. All disciples forsook Jesus in fear when Jesus needed their testimony at his trial. Not one person whom Jesus healed (nor any of their family members) offered themselves as evidence for Jesus at his trial. His disciples refused to believe he was resurrected until they touched him.

Racist church governmental authorities wrongly condemned Peter for baptizing non-Jewish converts (Acts 11:1-18). The apostle Paul committed the same racist sin against Peter because he ate and spiritually fellowshipped with new converts who were not Jewish in nationality (Galatians 2:11-12). Jesus’ salvation saved them from their sins, but they failed to save themselves from racism until convicted by God.

While it is true we church leaders have been clumsy as oxen within the religion of God and Jesus Christ, yet the greater truth is there will never be a calculator capable of counting the sin-destroyed lives we religious clumsy oxen have changed for their betterment.

The Rev. G. David Henderson is the pastor of Temple of the Lord at 611 S. Green St. in Dalton. You can reach him at angelsfood@optilink.us. His column appears on Saturday.

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The value of clumsy oxen

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