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Holding on to the Word of Life

by Jerry Ousley  
3/06/2015 / Christian Living

Some people have a lot of trouble with wisdom teeth. My daughter has had to have two taken out and soon she may have to have the other two removed. When I was in the army I worked with a chaplain who had the same problem. He had two removed at once and I witnessed the pain he went through afterwards (I remember because he sort of took his bad mood out on me).

While I was in the army I was required to have a dental check up every couple of years. The military dentist suggested that I have my wisdom teeth removed. Now folks, I'm different. I'm sixty years old and I've been to the dentist four times in my life that I can remember. As a child I had to have some baby teeth removed. I remember that because it was not a pleasant experience. I had to go twice while in the army for checkups and I went once several years ago because I had a tooth that was bothering me. I'll save those stories for another time. But to get back to the story of the military dentist that wanted to remove my wisdom teeth, I thought about it for a few minutes. I couldn't for the life of me see why I would want to go through that pain and agony when they weren't in any way bothering me. As politely as I could I explained that I was not having any problems with them and I would keep them, thank you.

To this day I still haven't had any problems with my wisdom teeth. I don't go for regular checkups because, well, again I'm different. I don't see why you have to fix something that isn't broke. I've noticed that when people start going that they all of a sudden start having all kinds of problems. Now I'm in no way suggesting that any of you take on my philosophy. You do what you feel you need to do. But I'm not going unless my teeth hurt. I've still got all my teeth except for one and it sort of came out all by itself. God put my wisdom teeth in my mouth for a purpose and folks I'm not going to get rid of them unless I have too. I'm holding on to them as long as I can.

When we've got something of value to us we want to hold on to it. I heard a story one time of an antique collector who walked into a country general store in a small town where he had stopped on a trip to a large city for a show. While there he noticed that the owner had a cat. A dish sat close to the door containing cat food. The antique dealer immediately noticed that the dish was a very valuable antique. Casually he began to ask the owner about the cat. Then he said, "I'd like to buy that cat; how much would you take for it?" The owner looked down at his cat; it wasn't anything special and he wasn't greatly attached to it so he said, "Oh, I'll take ten dollars for her." The antique dealer felt like he was about to get the deal of a lifetime. He said, "Okay, I'll take her" and promptly whipped out ten dollars. Then he said, "I suppose she's used to eating from this dish. I'll just take it too." The store owner responded, "Mister, you just leave that dish right where it is. I've sold a whole lot of cats with that dish!"

When you've got something good you hold on to it. In Philippians 2:16 we are told "Holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain." Paul knew what he had. He had received the word of life the word of Christ that assured him of eternity. He had suffered much because of it. For the word of life he had been tortured, beaten, and jailed. Yet he held on. He knew its value. He was greatly aware of the benefits of it. So he refused to let go knowing that the day would finally come when his ultimate reward would arrive.

To be a successful Christian and committed to the Lord we too must realize the great value of the word of life. If you have received it, hold on to it with everything in you. It is the most valuable possession you have. If you have not received it you can. Just come to the Lord, repent of sin, accept His free gift of grace and you too can own the word of life, and that's something to tightly hug to your chest. Hold on to the word of life.

Jerry D. Ousley is the author of ?Soul Challenge?, ?Soul Journey?, ?Ordeal?, ?The Spirit Bread Daily Devotional and his first novel ?The Shoe Tree.? Visit our website at spiritbread.com to download these and more completely free of charge.

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