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Apples of Gold
Radio Script for June 22, 2009
“It’s Time to Drown a Few Voices”
Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.
“There’s a Nazirite in our house.”
That’s what I told my wife yesterday, and it’s true.
We have a young man living with us who just turned 19 Saturday, and Sunday he began a “Nazirite vow.”
It’s his way of separating himself unto the Lord. He shaved his head, and now he won’t cut his hair for the length of the vow. He is fasting from all meat and from all sweets, and he is fasting from media such as television, movies and video games.
In short, he is denying some things of the flesh in order to tune into the things of the Spirit.
Right now we also have two boys staying with us, plus the five in our family, which makes eight people in a small four-bedroom house. Throw in all the guests coming and going and the place is a regular circus.
And now we have this Nazirite, and I noticed last night, in the roar of all this activity, there he sat, at the dining room table, studying his Bible.
I told my wife, “Just think of all the things 19-year-old boys are doing to celebrate their birthday, and here’s this young man, separating himself to the Lord.”
He also preached his first sermon yesterday, to a kid’s group at church. He was quite nervous, but he did a fine job.
This is a young man on the fast track. He is drawing near to God, and God will draw near to Him. He is seeking wisdom, and he will find it. He is asking for more of the Holy Spirit, and that’s exactly what he will receive.
If you are a Christian, then you have the Spirit of Christ living in you. And the Spirit is leading you and teaching you and nudging you, guiding you in life.
The question is, are you listening?
Galatians 5:25 uses this phrase, “…let us keep in step with the Spirit.”
How can we keep in step with the Spirit?
One way is by drowning out the competing voices.
When our young Nazirite is not watching TV, he is drowning out those TV voices competing with the Holy Spirit for his attention.
When he avoids video games, he is drowning out that voice that is vying for a piece of him.
When he is fasting from certain pleasurable foods – yes, at first those voices will cry out more loudly. But then they will die out.
And as these competing voices die out, it is easier to hear the Holy Spirit, and easier to keep in step with the Spirit.
Here is a competing voice that I have drowned in my own life: the voice of chocolate.
Oh yes, chocolate used to speak to me. About once a day it would scream, “You need me! Come and get me! Drop everything right now!”
But starting on New Year’s Day 2007 I began fasting from all sweets. And before long the competing voice of chocolate was completely drowned in my life.
Before it was like the voice of chocolate had a little fishhook in me, and it would give me a yank whenever it wanted and I would obey. And off I would go.
But see, that’s the path of the flesh. I was pleasing my flesh. I would hear the voice of the flesh, and give in.
Add that to so many other voices making demands on our flesh and you can see how that drowns out the voice of the Spirit.
I mean, think of all those voices. “Wow, I feel like seeing a movie. Wow, I feel like some popcorn and soda. Wow, I feel like chatting on the internet.”
My daughter has Twitter on her cell phone, and it goes off every time one of her friends Tweets. Talk about a demanding voice! “Hey, I am Twitter! You must stop everything and listen to me right now!”
We are supposed to stay in step with the Spirit, but how can we do that when the voice of the Spirit is being drowned out by so many competing voices?
Now I’m not saying you have to take a Nazirite vow, but I am saying we all need to think about drowning out a few of those demanding voices. And it usually takes a strong measure of some kind to simply cut them off cold turkey.
So think about it. What are some of the demanding voices in your life that need to go?
Why not make a vow to silence them for a period of time?
When we silence the demanding voices, it is so much easier to tune in to the voice that truly matters – the voice of the Holy Spirit.
Comments?
E-mail me: dougapple@wave94.com.
May God bless you today! With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.
© 2009 The Arrow’s Tip
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(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
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