Ah mih Friends, the ole fella’s searching his fuzzy brain for a suitable intro, but unfortunately nothing’s coming forth. Steups! So we’ll simply forego the fancy intro and just jump right into the deep end. (smile) And I have to laugh, because as I wrote that last line, a memory, some fifty odd years old, suddenly flooded my aging cranium. It’s the memory of how I learned to swim. While pretty young, possibly seven or eight, living out Bacolet Street in Scarborough, on God’s Little Acre of Tobago, there was this small, rocky inlet appropriately called ‘Creek’ where we would bathe. Now there was a big rock a little ways out, don’t remember the name, but it was a popular jumping off point for those who could swim. Well at that stage I couldn’t swim, but would always envy some of my older friends who could, and would dive off the rock while I splashed in the shallows. I don’t know what got into me that day, guess I was always a tad adventurous, but I decided I was going to jump off the rock too. So I walked along the rock formation out to it and jumped off. Next thing yuh know, I’m floundering in the deep water, trying to stay afloat. But through dogged determination and an unshakeable will, that said I was not going under for keeps, I eventually made it back to shore. Thereafter, I was a swimmer! Oh Friends, I just realized that was one of the first of many times that the Good Lord bailed me out of a very crucial situation. I couldn’t swim, but under His ever watchful eye, kept battling until I was safe. Praise the Lord mih people! Else you wouldn’t be reading these words now. He obviously knew His plans for me some fifty years hence. Isn’t He a most marvellous God! And He certainly moves in mysterious ways. Here I am, almost a lifespan later, trying to find a suitable intro, and suddenly remember that memorable event, which I can now recognize as His saving grace, and which ties in nicely with what I want to say. And the first matter on the agenda is to share this most appropriate quote of James J. Corbett, where he wisely advises us to: ‘Fight one more round. When your feet are so tired you have to shuffle back to the center of the ring, fight one more round.’ He’s using the boxing ring as an analogy here for life. But isn’t that the living truth my people! Even though we dog tired, we got to keep on fighting; one round at a time, one day at a time. That’s especially true if you’re a believer and want to live right, then you just can’t give up. I guess that day back in the Creek, I must have figured that our subconsciously, because I just wasn’t prepared to go under. And that’s exactly what Cousin Sol is trying to tell us in our Bit: ‘For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief.’ Yes my brethren, the righteous always rises again, regardless of how many times they fall. Why is that? Two reasons: because as a believer they have the ‘don’t give up mentality’ indelibly imprinted on their souls, and most importantly, the hand of the Holy Spirit of the Lord God Almighty is always there to help them up each time they stumble and fall. And all God’s people chorused: ‘Thank you Lord!’ Nobody knew this better than Bruh David, and Psalm 34, the Lord hears the righteous, is a treasure trove of scripture to back that up, For example: ‘I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears. They looked unto him, and were lightened (radiant): and their faces were not ashamed. This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.’ (Ps.34:4-6) And if that doesn’t satisfy you, then try this: ‘The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles. The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite (crushed) spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all. He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken.’ (Ps.34:17-20) Oh Friends, to keep the righteous strong and secure is one of God’s most venerable promises. And you know that we can depend completely on Him, for He is faithful that promised. And Micah put the whole thing in its proper perspective when speaking of God’s concern for His people: ‘Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me.’ (Mic.7:8) Wow mih breddren! What a tower of strength is our God, that Micah could be so confident in Him! However Friends, the lot of the evil doer is not as fortunate, since Cousin Sol solemnly declares: ‘but the wicked shall fall into mischief.’ For certain sure people, the wicked shall stumble and fall into all sorts of calamity, with death, destruction and damnation being their eventual end. In Psalm 34, Bruh David also expresses the sorry fate of the wicked. ‘The face of the Lord is against them that do evil, to cut off (destroy) the remembrance of them from the earth…Evil shall slay the wicked: and they that hate the righteous shall be desolate (condemned or held guilty).’ (Ps.34:16, 21) Oh my people, the destruction of the wicked is recorded so much throughout the Good Book, that it’s indeed a rather foolish person who will align himself with iniquity workers having heard so much about their eventual demise. Time and space won’t allow me to go through many of them, but this one example should suffice. It happens in Babylon, when Haman, the king’s wicked right hand man plots to destroy the Jews, but Esther the queen and her uncle Mordecai thwart his evil intent. When the king finds out, he’s quite angry, but what follows is too convenient, and is surely the Lord’s doing. The Good Book recounts it this way: ‘And Harbonah, one of the chamberlains (eunuchs), said before the king, Behold also, the gallows fifty cubits high, which Haman had made for Mordecai, who had spoken good for the king, standeth in the house of Haman. Then the king said, Hang him thereon. So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then was the king’s wrath pacified (subsided).’ (Esth.7:9-10) Nuff said mih people! So let’s walk in righteousness that we can get back up every time we stumble and fall nuh. It’s the Lord’s faithful promise to those who walk obedient to Him. Much LOVE!…when things not right…hold on tight…doh leggo…doh leggo…
SCRIP-BITS 