Echoes From the Campfire--November 14

[Don Adkisson]

     "There's few things worse in this world than someone who knows what he's doing and doesn't need any advice...especially when he's a few years shy of twenty years."
             --Lou Bradshaw (Along the Way)

     "He will die because there is no instruction, and be lost because his great stupidity."
            --Proverbs 5:23 (HCSB)
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     I used to enjoy sitting around the table listening to my elders talk. I dare not interrupt, except in rare moments, but it was my part to listen and learn. This was true of parents, teachers, and especially my coaches. I wanted to gain more knowledge (shame it didn't apply to studies back then), I wanted to practice more and more.
     I remember one time as the baseball team took a train trip to Utah for games. I played cards with the rest of the guys and came out the big winner. My Dad happened to be on that trip and took me aside telling me that he didn't think that my Grandma and Aunt would be very pleased knowing I had won money from cards, and that I should give it back. Lesson learned, and I never gambled again. When one stops to look at it, gambling is really stupid. The definitions of gambling: the act or practice of risking the loss of something important by taking a chance or acting recklessly. A little game of cards, you may question, but it all starts somewhere.
     What it really boils down to is selfishness. I want more; I don't need to depend on the Lord, I'll take my chances. Gambling is not trusting the Lord with our lives and that includes our finances. It is not being a good steward; rememb,er that money in your pocket actually belongs to the Lord.
     But there are other ways of gambling. Drinking, driving too fast, bizarre acts of recklessness. I remember a person I knew years back. He was ready to dive into the lake. He looked at the water and was gambling that it was deep enough for him to dive. It wasn't and he became a quadriplegic for life. Yet, there are those out there who know it all. No need to try to tell them anything and when disaster hits, what happens? Meltdown. They need a safe place.
     What happens in the Day of Judgment? Today is the day of salvation. Today there is compassion and it is only intelligent to choose salvation today, for in that day there will be no compassion. Grace now or there will be judgment later.

D.C. Adkisson