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Israel had things in his heart
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to relate to future generations -
-
maybe a prophetic word.
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Is there anything that you are burdened
-
to relate to pilgrims that are still here
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or to those pilgrims
who are yet to be born
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either physically or spiritually?
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Oh, how do you sum it up, you know?
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You just can't.
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But I'll tell you one thing for sure:
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The Lord is worthy and wonderful.
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Yeah, the Lord is worthy and wonderful.
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In the words of C.T. Studd,
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"If Jesus Christ is God
and He died for me,
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there's no sacrifice too great,
that I could make for Him."
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It's just hard to sum it up.
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It's hard.
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I wouldn't know really how to answer it.
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But I could say one thing.
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In addition to what I said here tonight
-
and the emphasis about
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we're not living for this world.
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We're living for heaven.
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Death to self. All to Christ.
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The message of sacrifice.
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And all of that is very true,
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very imminent, very urgent, very real,
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but there is a footnote;
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there is a side note, and that is
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make sure you enjoy the Lord.
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Make sure to enjoy Him.
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I think I feel like somehow,
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I've made the Christian life too hard.
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And you men, you enjoy the wife.
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You enjoy the wife of your youth.
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Proverbs 5.
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Enjoy her.
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And you women, enjoy your men.
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And you enjoy your children.
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You children, enjoy your parents.
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Proverbs is just full of:
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let her who bore you have joy.
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I can't quote it exactly.
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Many verses like that.
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You children wonder, what
really should I be doing?
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What great thing can I do?
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I'll tell you what great thing you can do.
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You can bring joy to your parents.
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And that is no small thing.
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You enjoy your meals.
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Enjoy them.
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We never did much cooking out.
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We don't have time to cook out.
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We don't have time to heat that thing up.
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Get it on. Get it going.
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But there's something to be said for it.
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Slow down.
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Heat that grill up
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and enjoy your meal together.
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Make every meal to be a holy time.
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Make every meal to be a Bible school.
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Share with one another your experiences,
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parents and children,
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and what you're going through.
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The meal time, the table time,
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it's a tremendous opportunity
-
to touch base and share what you saw
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that morning or what
happened this afternoon.
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I haven't given enough credit
-
to what is it? Mark 6?
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Where the Lord says
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come aside for awhile and rest.
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I have not given that enough credit.
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I mean, the Lord said that.
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He said that.
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And we took some family vacations.
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I'm glad for every one of them we had.
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But if I had it to do again,
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I'd buy a better tent -
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one where you could stand up,
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move around.
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Not just some little bit of a thing
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where you've got to crawl in
and dread it at night
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and kick your shoes off in the cold.
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And they get wet in the morning.
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When it's time to work, work.
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When it's time to play, play.
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Enjoy your vacations.
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Somebody I think quoted it tonight.
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1 Peter 3:
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"And he who would see good days
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and love life..."
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Peter said that.
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Good days? I thought all these days
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were supposed to be evil.
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You know, this present evil world.
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And love life? I thought you were
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supposed to hate your life.
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But there's a sense in which
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the opposite is true.
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And so enjoy your vacations.
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Take them. Take them.
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Enjoy your work.
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Here I am.
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See? I can barely sit at my desk.
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I can barely read my Bible.
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Don't think that if I get sick ever
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I'm going to have more time
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to read my Bible and pray.
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No way.
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You don't do anything
more when you're sick
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except groan.
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So, just enjoy your health.
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I remember Conrad Murrell -
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he came to Kirksville.
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I was still single at the time.
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(incomplete thought)
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No, I take it back. I was still working.
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It was before I'd quit my job.
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And I think I came down to the meeting.
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And I said to Conrad,
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"Is it alright for me to put a
T-bone steak in that oven?"
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And he says, "It sure is."
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He says, "You put a steak in there
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and you enjoy it and thank God for it,
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and when He takes it away from you,
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you thank Him for that too."
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And so, enjoy your work.
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Don't look at it as drudgery.
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What a privilege you've got to go to work
-
and do something for society
-
and for Christ.
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So there's something to be
said for that side too.
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Come aside and rest awhile.
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Make memories.
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Look your children in the eye.
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And tell them you love them.
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Let them enjoy you.
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Come on, let them in.
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Tell them you do.
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Enjoy one another.
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You look around the room.
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You look around the church,
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and you can see, well, he's not perfect.
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He's got this fault and that fault.
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But the same for you.
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Enjoy the brethren and the good
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that you do find in them.
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Drop your guard a little.
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Cut them some slack.
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Enjoy your pastor; your pastors.
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Give them a break.
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You know, it says in Hebrews 13
-
that they're watching for your souls.
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Let them do it with joy
and not with grief.
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Give them a little joy.
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There's a burden there,
-
again, that they're
carrying that's unique.
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Give them some joy.
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The biggest joy you can
give them, of course,
-
is to walk with Christ and quit sinning.
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I have no greater joy
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than to see my children
walking in the truth.
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I believe that's all.