My Friend Was Sputtering and Throwing Smoke - Apples of Gold - September 19, 2008 -vi-

Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for September 19, 2008

“My Friend Was Sputtering and Throwing Smoke”

Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.

“I know someone who has twice cheated on his wife…

“He told me this over coffee…

“He…spoke to me as if I were a priest…confessed everything.

“His body was convulsed in guilt and self-hatred.

“He said he would lie down next to his wife at night feeling walls of concrete between their hearts.  He had secrets. 

“She tries to love him, but he knows he doesn’t deserve it.  He cannot accept her affection because she is loving a man who doesn’t exist.  He plays a role.  He says he is an actor in his own home.”

That’s a story from Donald Miller in his book, “Blue Like Jazz.”

Miller continues:  “Designed for good, my friend was sputtering and throwing smoke.  The soul was not designed for this, I thought.  We were supposed to be good, all of us.  We were supposed to be good.”

Wow.  And I love that imagery, “my friend was sputtering and throwing smoke.” 

Miller indicates that we were designed to be good, and when we aren’t good, things just don’t run right.

The good thing is that we can come to Jesus Christ, confess our sins and He will forgive them, and give us a fresh start.

But then what? 

At this point a lot of people go back to their lives, with the added duty of trying to avoid sin. 

But here is what I get out of what Miller wrote.  It’s not that we were designed to be not bad.  We were designed to be good.

Yes, in a sense Jesus makes us good when He wipes away our sin.  But there is more.  After being made good we need to start doing good.

Ephesians 2 says we are not saved by doing good works.  We can only be saved by God’s grace, “the gift of God.” 

But now look at verse 10.  “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

This is what God created us to do – to do good works.

First Timothy 6:18 says we should be “rich in good deeds.”

Psalm 37:3 says, “Trust in the Lord and do good…”

This is what God made us to do – to spend our time and energy doing good works.

Yes, like the man Miller wrote about, sin will make you sputter and throw smoke.  But it doesn’t have to be outright sin.

Have you ever sat around and watched TV for hours, then got up and thought, “What have I done?”  Or maybe it’s video games.  Or maybe it’s goofing off on the internet.  Hours go by.  Weekends come and go.

Now listen.  If you haven’t spent your time doing good, then you haven’t been doing what you were created to do – which will leave you sputtering.

You see, all those things are things we do for ourselves.  It’s for our amusement and entertainment.  It’s selfish really, and we weren’t designed for that.  Our soul doesn’t work well when it’s being selfish. 

Look at Second Corinthians 5:15.  It says we should no longer live for ourselves, but for Christ who died for us.

Did you catch that?  It says we should no longer live for ourselves.  This calls for a change in our mindset.  We stop thinking about what we want all the time, or what we feel or what we deserve.  Instead, we start thinking of others, and the good we can do for them.

And it can be anyone.  Galatians 6:10 says, “…let us do good to all people…”

Jesus even said to “…do good to those who hate you…”*

We should be so awesome in good deeds that it stands out like a full moon at midnight.  Matthew 5:16 says, “…let your shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”

So it’s not about doing a little secret good deed here and there.  Our good deeds should be outstanding, like the fireworks grand finale.  First Peter 2:12 says that we should live such good lives among nonbelievers that they may see our good deeds and glorify God.  Get that?  Unbelievers will actually glorify God because of our good deeds!

So is your life sputtering and throwing smoke today?  If it’s due to sin, then it’s time to come clean with God and be made clean by Him. 

But if you’re not sure what it is, then maybe it’s this.  Maybe you aren’t filling your life with what your life was created to be filled with.

And what is that?  Just what it says in Ephesians 2:10.  We were created to do good works.


Comments?

E-mail me:  dougapple@wave94.com.

May God bless you today!  With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.
  
*  Luke 6:27

© 2008 The Arrow’s Tip
To subscribe to your own daily “Apples of Gold” e-mail, write dougapple@wave94.com.
If you want to be removed from this e-mail list, simply click reply and type UNSUBSCRIBE on the subject line.
If you want to catch “Apples of Gold” in its original audio format, go to www.wave94.com
To search through the large archive of past articles, go here:  http://www.wave94.com/modules.php?name=Stories_Archive
If you have trouble reaching me at my main e-mail address, try this one:  douglas_apple@msn.com

(Proverbs 25:11 – “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”)

Why “The Arrow’s Tip”?  Each morning, after diligently seeking the Lord, I write Apples of Gold.  Then before I release it to the public I pray one final prayer, “Lord, send forth your arrows.”  I envision Apples of Gold as arrows, tips dipped in the river of the water of life that flows from the throne of God (Rev. 22:1), sailing toward the hearts and minds of men and women around the world.

Doug Apple
General Manager - Wave 94
Christian Radio for Tallahassee
PO Box 4105
Tallahassee, FL  32315
(850) 926-8000
-vi-