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Cause to Glory

by Jerry Ousley  
6/05/2015 / Christian Living

Some of you may remember this story but to illustrate my point it's worth telling again. When we first started the church we pastored for nineteen years there came a day when we purchased a building. It had been a grocery store for many years and consequently needed a lot of remodeling. Part of that remodeling job included putting up a wall that would separate the sanctuary from a Sunday School room. We had made due with a curtain but the children were loud and some of the adults complained about the noise, so it was time for a wall.
One of the men agreed to help me. I wasn't fond of the situation because I knew this man very well. He was the type who thought he knew it all. We would have to attach the new wall to the existing walls which were masonry and neither of us being carpenters, we dutifully ran down to the hardware store to ask their advice as to what to do and purchase the supplies we'd need to do it. The friendly clerk explained the process to us and showed us what we needed to buy to get the job done. I had it in my head and we returned and started to work.

Basically it was simple enough. We would sink special fasteners into the masonry wall, then using the keyhole saw we bought, we were to drill half way through the two by four in several places and then fasten that into the apparatus we'd sunk into the existing wall; simple enough. But the man I was working with insisted that we were supposed to drill all the way through the two by four. I knew that doing this would not leave a surface for the bolts to hold but at his insistence, and because I wanted to be a peace-loving pastor, I allowed him to drill all the way through. Of course, when we stood the two by four up and put in the bolts, the board immediately fell to the floor. Now folks, I'm the world's worst carpenter, but I have enough common sense to know this was bound to happen. I looked at the man resisting the temptation to say, "I told you so " I was waiting for him to say something like, "Well, you were right." But he didn't. Instead he said, "Well, here's what I think we need to do " then continued explaining that we'd have to drill the holes again, only this time only going half way through just as if I had never mentioned the idea in the first place!

I had cause to glory in the situation because I had been right, even if he didn't acknowledge it, but I didn't, not because I'm such a nice guy, but because I was influenced by trying to be a good pastor. In Philippians 2:16 Paul said, "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." In other words Paul was saying that he held the word of life tightly to his chest, being obedient to the revelation of God so that when the final day came when Christ returned, he would have reason to glory because he had not run his race or done his work in vain.

We all need to feel proud of what we have done with our lives. Many people have lived in regret because of bad decisions and choices they have made. I'd say we've all been there; I know that I certainly have. The great thing about our Lord is that it is never too late to begin. In life we may come near to our later years and finally realize the work that we should have been doing all along. It may seem like it is too late. In some cases people have been able to go back to school regardless of their age and learn to do what they should have been doing all along. That's great. In some cases it may be too late. But in Christ Jesus it is never too late. Jesus told the story of a certain landowner hiring the laborers to work his fields. He hired some early that morning. He hired more in the middle of the day. Then he also hired some more with only one hour of work left to do. He wound up paying every man the same thing even though some had worked all day while others had worked only one hour. That story represents the point I'm trying to make. With our Lord it isn't the length of our service, though I can't help but think that those who have spent their lives for Christ will certainly be compensated in some way. But the gift of eternal life is the same for all whether they've lived for Christ their whole lives, or have come to Him only late in life. The fact is, regardless the time, when we come to Christ wholly dedicating ourselves to Him, we will have cause to glory.

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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