The Need Of Thought
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Isaiah 1:3
Thoughtfulness.
1. How true are the words of Hood, the poet “But evil is wrought by want of thought as well as want of heart.”
2. Parents know how true this is. Much of the pain and sorrow they suffer through the actions of their children is not for want of heart, so much as want of thought.
3. “So-and-so is most inconsiderate,” we often say. It is sheet thoughtlessness which is the cause of much of life’s heartaches and pains.
4. Note God’s plaintive lament in
The ox knoweth his owner, And the ass his master’s crib: But Israel doth not know, My people doth not consider.
Even the ox and ass were more considerate than Israel. God had fed and cared for Israel, yet they did not love and care for Him, and all this was the result of thoughtlessness. Even the very animals are more grateful to us for what we give than we are to God for what He gives.
5. Oh, we sometimes say, “Oh, if people would only think!”
Note God’s appeal for thought in connection with the forgiveness of sins in verse 18.
6. This is not a thinking age.
7. But what must I consider? Five things.
I. “When I consider Thy Heavens”
When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, The moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;
1. The study of the Heavens was the favourite occupation of the Eastern shepherds.
2. It was in the East the science of Astronomy had its origin.
3. Do you ever consider the Heavens? Let us look up a little oftener.
4. David, the writer of this Psalm, had been a shepherd, and often as he kept his father’s sheep he considered the Heavens. What was the result of his meditation?
a. Their greatness makes man look so small and mean. And yet nowhere is God stated to love the stars, but man. Man is of more value than many stars or suns.
b. The calmness of their revolutions shame the fussiness and passion of men. It is Longfellow who speaks of a star as:
“So still and saintlike,
No fret and worry, and anger and wrath.”
c. Their order shames our disorder. They obey the command of God. Here there is nought but strife, discord, disobedience. Thus I get little encouragement from that study.
While touring Italy, a man visited a cathedral that had been completed on the outside only. Once inside, the traveler found an artist kneeling before an enormous wall upon which he had just begun to create a mosaic. On some tables nearby were thousands of pieces of colored ceramic. Curious, the visitor asked the artist how he would ever finish such a large project. The artist answered that he knew how much he could accomplish in one day. Each morning, he marked off an area to be completed that day and didn’t worry about what remained outside that space. That was the best he could do; and if he faithfully did his best, one day the mosaic would be finished.
II. “Consider the Lilies of the Field”
And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:
1. An old man called flowers “God’s smiles.” How often He smiles then! The stars are the flowers of the skies, and flowers are the stars of the earth.
2. As I consider the lilies, I notice their purity and beauty, but that only condemns my impurity and ugliness.
The renowned Quaker scholar Rufus Jones was speaking of the importance of having a radiant countenance. After his address, a woman “with an almost unbelievably plain face” came up and asked him what he would do if he had a face like hers.
He replied, “While I have troubles of my own of that kind, I’ve discovered that if you light it up from within, any old face you have is good enough.”
III. “Consider the Ravens.” God feedeth them
Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls?
1. Remember they are unclean. Surely God will do naught for them! Oh, wonder of wonders, He cares for ravens!
2. A place was found for the Ravens, even in the Ark, and God used them as His servants to feed Elijah. I am like a raven—unclean—but God has a thought for me, and has made provision for the supplying of my complex needs.
As with many innovations, the originator of 3M’s sticky yellow Post-its didn’t know what he had—at first. Researcher Spence Sliver saw curious about what would happen if he mixed an unusual amount of monomer into a polymer-based adhesive he was working on. The result was an adhesive that would “tack” one piece of paper to another and even restick, without leaving any residue on the second piece of paper. The company had no use for the new adhesive until 3M chemist Arthur Fry began having problems in the choir loft. The slips of paper he used to mark pages in his hymnal often fluttered to the floor, leaving him frantically searching for his place. Then he remembered Silver’s adhesive. Fry’s better bookmark soon metamorphosed into the handy Post-its that have become a fixture in offices throughout the country.
IV. “For Consider Him”
For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.
1. What a subject for study! You can never exhaust this subject.
2. His greatness, calmness, obedience, purity, beauty, entrance me. The beauty and order and greatness of the stars and hills fade into insignificance.
3. But as I consider His death, I find it is life to me.
Theologians tell a story to illustrate how Christ’s triumph presently benefits our lives: Imagine a city under siege. The enemy that surrounds they city will not let anyone or anything leave. Supplies are running low, and the citizens are fearful. But in the dark of the night, a spy sneaks through the enemy lines. He has rushed to the city to tell the people that in another place the main enemy force has been defeated; the leaders have already surrendered. The people do not need to be afraid. It is only a matter of time until the besieging troops receive the news and lay down their weapons. Similarly, we may seem now to be surrounded by the forces of evil—disease, injustice, oppression, death. But the enemy has actually been defeated at Calvary. Things are not the way they seem to be. It is only a matter of time until it becomes clear to all that the battle is really over.
V. Let us consider one Another to Provoke
And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:
1. Oh, yes, we are worth considering. There is something to admire.
2. But why? To provoke one another—to arouse one another to love and good works.
The soldier’s first article of faith is summed up nowhere more eloquently than in an 1865 letter from William Tecumseh Sherman to U. S. Grant: “I knew wherever I was that you thought of me, and if I got in a tight place you would come—if alive.”