When I find myself in a mental block, I have made it a habit to go to the library and troll for ideas. I will wander the stacks looking for a book that might give me a spark of creativity. It always amazes me how many different books are out there. Any topic, any person, any event, it seems has a book about. (I saw a book called “The Drinking Water Book”) It reminded me of what the preacher said in Ecclesiastes 12:11-12, “The words of wise men are like goads, and masters of these collections are like well-driven nails; they are given by one Shepherd. But beyond this, my son, be warned: the writing of many books is endless, and excessive devotion to books is wearying to the body.” There is great wisdom that can come from the library (and other places of learning), but also folly. Earthly wisdom will never exceed the wisdom of God. In our desire to gain more knowledge, we must be careful not to pull ourselves from the truth of God.
In Acts 20, there is the tragicomic event surrounding a young man by the name of Eutychus. He did what a lot of folks before and after him did, he fell asleep during a sermon. Unfortunately, he was setting in in the third story window at the time. So instead of nodding off and hitting the pew in front of him, he fell to his death. The good news was the apostle Paul was delivering the sermon and had the ability to bring him back. I don’t know, however, if we can judge Eutychus too harshly. The sermon had gone on till midnight. Paul wouldn’t finish it up till daybreak. That’s a long lesson. I know some folks that might want to jump out of a window if I had a lesson that long, yet these Christians wanted to be there to hear Paul. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not pushing for all night sermons but I think we might need to adopt these folks' dedication. They knew that Paul was only in town for a limited time only and they were determined to ...
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