Bible Thoughts

June 7, 1998

"For Jehovah thy God hath blessed thee in all the work of thy hand; he hath known thy walking through this great wilderness: these forty years Jehovah thy God hath been with thee; thou has lacked nothing"(Deuteronomy 2:7).

The providential care of God kept the Israelites alive for the forty years they wandered in the wilderness. All of their needs were met. They "lacked nothing" of all that made it possible for them to exist during that period.

When they were hungry, Jehovah sent the manna. When they cried for meat, Jehovah sent them quails. They did not deserve the tender care God extended to them, but the Lord was keeping his promise to Abraham.

When they were thirsty, the Lord quenched their thirst. Each step of the way, provisions were made for them to have the life-giving water, even in their rebellious attitudes.

When they were in danger, God protected them from ultimate disaster. They could not protect themselves, it was only through the providence of Jehovah they were spared.

When they knew not the way to go, the Lord provided them with leadership. Without that leadership, they would have floundered in the wilderness, nothing more than a lost civilization with a disastrous end. It was the guidance from above through Moses that spared the Hebrews.

When they needed laws, rules, and ordinances, Jehovah revealed His will to them. The Law of Moses became the standard for these people as they reached and inhabited the land of Canaan. The Hebrews had only to turn to the Ten Commandments and the rest of the law of God to know how to live, how to worship, and how to exist as a people dedicated to the God that made them.

For the forty years in the wilderness, in spite of their attitude and conduct, God had been with them and "they lacked nothing." How great was the power of God to the descendants of Abraham.

In the spiritual realm at present, Jehovah has blessed us and we have "lacked nothing" in fulfilling and following his word. There is nothing missing from the New Testament of Jesus Christ that we need and there is nothing more needed than the New Testament.

We lack nothing when it comes to the work and worship of the church that Christ built. We lack nothing in the structure(organization) of that church. We lack nothing in learning what to do to be saved or to live the life of a Christian. God's word supplies us with everything that we need to be saved. Paul said it, "Every scripture inspired ofGod is also profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be complete, furnished completely unto every good work"(II Timothy 3:16-17). Can you name anything that is not in the scriptures that we need to be acceptable to God? Paul said it plainly, didn't he? Why is it so difficult to get people to understand this truth?

The Lord had a job for me, but I had so much to do

I said, ""You get somebody else, or wait till I get through."

I don't know how the Lord came out; no doubt he got along;

But I felt kind o'sneakin' like; I knew I'd done God wrong.

One day I needed the Lord--needed him right away;

But he never answered me at all, and I could hear him say

Down in my accusin' heart: "Child, I've got too much to do;

You get somebody else, or wait till I get through."

Now when the Lord has a job for me, I never try to shirk;

I drop what I have on hand and do the Lord's good work,

And my affairs can run along, or wait till I get through.

Nobody else can do the work that God has marked out

for you.-Author Unknown(Elam's Notes, 4/3/27, p. 108)

All means necessary for the edification of the church and the preaching of the gospel to the world has been given to the church. It is likened to a body: the members of it are members of the body. Christians are thus related to each other as members one of another and members of his body(I Corinthians 12:12-27). Christ as the head of the body governs each member through his truth. He thus keeps united his people who are faithful to him; there is no friction in the work and worship. The structure of the church is such that when the members are faithful to him each one functions in that way that brings harmony and success to the body. Those members of the body are so closely united and harmonious in their lives that "whether one member suffereth, all the members suffer with it; or one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it"(I Corinthians 12:26). This presents the picture of the church in the local sense when each member is in submission to the head, Christ.-Annual Lesson Commentary, November 18, 1945, page 291.

"From a child Timothy knew the Holy Scriptures and they were able to make him wise to salvation through the Christian's faith. How many more Timothies might we have, if we had a few more of the daughters of Lois, and few more mothers like Eunice!

"Most saints, in this generation, appear more zealous that their children should shine on earth than in heaven, and that they may be rich here at the hazard of eternal bankruptcy. They labor to make them rich and genteel, rather than pure and hole; and spend much more time in fashioning them to the foolish and wicked taste of polished society than in teaching them by precept and example the word that is better than gold and more precious than rubies." -Alexander Campbell, 1835.