Wonder why?

Did'ja ever pass by an old barn, where the boards are missing and doors are hanging off the hinges?

Where has all the splendor gone? What has happened to the owner of this once fine barn? I can't help but wonder why this barn has lost its glory.

I look at this barn and see how it has deteriorated -- no longer useful, no longer able to hold all that it once did. The rains can come pouring in, causing more decay.

No one comes to use it anymore, except maybe the field mice, or other animals that take shelter in parts of the building or eat some of the grain that might be left on the ground. It is useless! It has lost its glory!

I wonder about the owners of this barn. Haggai 2:3 says, "Who is left among you that saw this house in her first glory? And how do ye see it now? Is it not in your eyes in comparison of it as nothing?" What a difference in the new and the old!

I think about people who were once like that new barn. They were filled to the brim with the excitement of serving the Lord. They rejoiced in the Lord, going about telling others of the glory of the Lord, filling their barn full with new converts. What has happened to their glory? Jeremiah 2:11 tells us, "Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? But my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit."

Hosea 4:6-7 says, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee...As they were increased, so they sinned against me: therefore will I change their glory into shame."

Remember the rich man in Luke 12? Jesus tells the parable in verses 16-21. "The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: And he thought within himself, saying, 'What shall I do, because I have no room to bestow my fruits?' And he said, 'This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink and be merry.' But God said unto him, 'Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou has provided?' So is he that layeth treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God."

In I Chronicles 29, David blessed the Lord before all the congregation, and said, "Thine, O Lord is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head above all." Then he said, "But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort? For all things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee." David is telling God, "Lord, we only give you what is yours already!"

I think about that song, "Who Am I?" that Rusty Goodman wrote. Sometimes, when I sang it in church, I wondered, Lord, who am I that you should die for me? You gave up your throne in glory to come as a baby, who we celebrate at Christmas! You grew up among friends and family, just as I did. But then you went further. You gave more of yourself than any one of us could ever do. You gave your life on Calvary for me, and for everyone who will believe in you as their Savior.

Proverbs 3:35 says, "The wise shall inherit glory; but shame shall be the promotion of fools."

In Isaiah 5, he says woe to the faithless! (14-15) "Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it. And the mean man shall be brought down, and the mighty man shall be humbled, and the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled."

Haggai 2:6-7 say, "For thus saith the Lord of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land; And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts."

I Peter 1:24-25 say, "For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you."

Folks, just as that old barn is now useless, except for mice and other little animals that might seek shelter, it has lost the glory it once had when it was new.

How is your house? I am talking about you, and your body as a temple of the Lord. I Samuel 3:3 says, "And ere the lamp of God went out in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was, and Samuel was laid down to sleep." That lamp was the type of the Holy Spirit. It was ordained to burn continuously, but was being allowed to go out. Is your lamp going out? Has the glory left your temple?

We can still be useful. Proverbs 20:29 says, "The glory of young men is their strength: and the beauty of old men is the grey head." People cannot see God unless they see him through us. Souls cannot be saved unless they hear the word of God through us. Angels are not preaching his word, and God is not preaching his word. It is being delivered to the world by us!

I took flashlights to church one Sunday morning for my adult Sunday school class and gave one to each person in the class, but put no batteries in them. There was no light. When I passed out the batteries, I explained that this was the Holy Spirit, which would help us be the light God wanted us to be!

I would love to have you visit my church, Grace Fellowship on Highway 34E, just 4 miles from Marble Hill. Our Sunday morning worship is at 10 a.m. You would enjoy our praise and worship group and a spirit-filled message from Pastor Monnie Jones.

Our Wednesday evening service at 6:30 p.m. includes Bible study and youth groups, which is why I call it family night. Please come and join us!

LOUISE HUGHES is a longtime Bollinger County resident who has contributed to The Banner Press for more than 40 years.