SCRIP-BITS

Mark 7:9.    And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.
 
Aye Friends, just as we hate Mondays with a passion, we’re deliriously passionate about Fridays and our weekends! You can always know that it’s Friday by the chorus we sing as we chip down the road, a la J’ouvert morning; ‘Thank God is Friday! Thank God is Friday! Ah say TGIF! Thank God is Friday!’ Accompaniment is provided by some scintillating iron and bottle and spoon, while an old doodup drum, hanging by a strap around somebody’s neck, bangs out a bass drum riddim. Hn, hn, hn! That’s the scene we witnessing today. And this Friday is even more special because it’s the end of the month, and everybody just got paid. Wow! So the watering holes will be hopping this weekend! But Friends, as I keep warning us, drunk or sober, we’ve got to mind our business. We can’t just run amuck, go over the deep end without a life jacket. So to help us stay sane and sober (smile) and keep the proper perspective, let’s chant our Friday Chant like we really mean it nuh. In time to the riddim now: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through another week of work! It hasn’t been easy, but with your generous help, I made it through. Now, please help me to get sufficient fun, fellowship, rest and relaxation in these two short days off, so that I can be renewed and refreshed in soul, body and mind, to go back out and do it all over again next week, furthering your glorious kingdom with each step I take. I pray this in Jesus name. Amen.’ Ah Friends, our lives aren’t much different than those who lived in Jesus’ time, except perhaps we’re more sinful, ungodly and more boldfaced with it. As Jesus says in our Bit: ‘Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.’ The scribes and Pharisees, the religious rulers of Israel had shunted aside some of the old commands of the Old Testament for some newer religious practices. Hear how Jesus lambasted the Jewish leaders just before our Bit. ‘Well hath Isaiah prophesied of you hypocrites (pretenders), as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for (as) doctrines the commandments of men. For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots (pitchers) and cups: and many other such like things ye do.’ (Mark 7: 6-8) Oh my people, we’re doing the same thing, concentrating more on outward appearances, than inward cleanliness, and sadly on a much larger, wider and more ungodly scale. As the scholars claimed of the Jewish elders: ‘Too many were substituting modern religious custom for divinely revealed truth.’ Unfortunately, this generation is no different. There are so many new-fangled religious theories and ideas floating around, that one has to be very careful of what one hears and believes. On any given day, one can hear ten different preachers preach ten widely divergent sermons on the same subject. Sadly, each of them will veer off in whatever personal direction or slant, they decide to put on it. But in the end, none of them will fully conform to the Word of the Lord. That’s because we have allowed too much man-made junk, too many man-made customs to infiltrate our beliefs and usurp the real truth of God’s Word. The obvious result is that we now follow more man-made customs, idols and practices instead of what the Word teaches. My Friends, in these scandalous, confused, ungodly times, it’s impossible for us to understand what is and isn’t truth without personal and individual knowledge of the Lord’s Law. With all the shysters and false preachers around, it’s imperative that we read and store the Word in our hearts, minds and souls, so that we can refute and counteract the false witness and testimony that currently passes for truth. That’s why I keep pleading with us to spend time, as much time as is necessary, reading the Good Book and meditating on it, so that we can have a solid foundation to resist the lies and falsehood being spread by the enemy and his evil cohorts. Unless we know what the Word says, we can’t truly tell right from wrong, and thus prevent ourselves from going astray. And we certainly don’t want that! So starting today, RIGHT NOW, let’s promise our God and ourselves, to study the Word more sincerely and diligently than we’ve ever done before, that we may uphold the Lord’s divine truth and not man-made customs. It’s the only way positive change will ever come to our world. More on this tomorrow, God willing. Till then, remember to LOVE your God, LIVE your Faith, and SPREAD His Word! Much LOVE!…unless you know the law…you can’t tell right from wrong…true from false… P.S. This is a bit late because of some modem problems…and my tiredness. (smile)