FROM YOUR PASTOR’S HEART April 10, 2023

The boy “Growing Up on Dump Ground Road” had a really smart older brother. Roy was six years older and much bigger than his younger sibling. He excelled in his career in the engineering department of Shell Oil Company, making more money as a part-time consultant in retirement than the DGR kid ever made. Yet, Roy’s true calling in life was to keep his younger brother humble. With his quick wit and sharp quips, he could put his lifelong pest in his proper place.

While the DGR boy did well in school, he was never very confident of his intelligence. Unlike some of his friends, he never thought he was the smartest guy in the room. In fact, he often thought he would win the prize for the dumbest kid in town. Even though he graduated in the top ten of his high school class, he worried himself sick about making the cut in college. Becoming both a husband and a father by the age of 20, he earnestly prayed for God’s help to adequately fulfill both of these roles. He amazed himself and his brother when he graduated from college.

The man that God grew from that DGR kid went on to earn two more degrees, a Master of Divinity and a Doctor of Ministry. However, diplomas on the wall do not prove true intelligence. I discovered last week that my “smart watch” has taken over where my brother left off, when he went to heaven. My watch has assumed the task of keeping me humble. As I was making the long walk from the parking garage to Baptist Hospital, my watch expressed great surprise by saying: “It appears you are working out!”

While I did not realize it at the time, my brother was helping to prepare me for the life the Lord had planned for me. We are told repeatedly in Scripture to walk humbly before the Lord. We read in 1 Peter 5:5 that younger people are to submit to their elders and be clothed in humility. We are told in verses 6-7: “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.” God is not pleased by haughtiness, but humility. The smartest guy in the room is the one who seeks to please God more than impress men!

Serving in love, Bro. Jim