A LESSON FROM TRASH

When I was a young man, I worked for a company that employed about 300 people. They had a cost reduction program where they encouraged each employee to find ways to save the company money, and each employee whose cost reduction was implemented would receive a bonus at the end of the year.

One year, one of my friends turned in a cost reduction concerning trash collection for the building. One of the trash disposal companies in the area had a trash compactor there. It had been there for several years. They charged $50.00 each time they emptied it, which was usually about once a week. This cost the company an average of $200.00 each month, or about $2,400.00 a year.

My friend found another company that would bring their trash compactor to our building, and only charge us $35.00 each time they dumped it. This would save our company $15.00 each week. So it would only cost $140.00 a month, which would only be $1,680.00 a year. That would be a savings of about $720.00 a year.

His cost reduction was accepted and implemented. The old trash company removed its compactor and the new company brought theirs in. That’s when we realized that the new one was smaller than the old one so it had to be emptied more often. This piece of information was not incorporated into the equation for reducing the cost of trash removal. Now, instead of paying $200.00 a month for four dumps, the company was paying $210.00 for 6 dumps a month. More than before with more hassle with having to call when it filled up and having to wait for them to come and pick it up, and waiting for them to bring it back before we could remove any trash from the building. The fact that the new container was smaller was a very important factor that was left out of the equation because my friend did not have all the information he needed in order to make an informed decision.

I’ve always taught my children that you have to have all the information to make an informed decision. So you have to be sure to ask all the right questions, and when telling someone else something, you need to make sure you give them every ounce of information you possibly can so they can make an informed decision.

I’m afraid this is what is happening in our churches today when people ignore part of the Bible. Many don’t think you need the Old testament. Many have been taught that the Old Testament is not relevant for Christians today. This is the book that God gave to his people. This is the word of God. The complete book; the Old and New Testaments.

There are many things in the Old Testament that build the foundation for the New Testament, and without all that information, you cannot understand the New Testament correctly.

Jesus, and the other New Testament writers quoted from the Old Testament many, many times. There are hundreds of prophecies in the Old Testament concerning both the first and second coming of Jesus. The Old Covenant is there, which is the foundation of the New Covenant in the New Testament. For more on that subject, read my study called “The Old And New Covenant.”

2 Timothy 3:16-17 says, ALL scripture is inspired by God, and is helpful for teaching, for evidence, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness: So that the followers of God may grow to maturity, and be fully equipped for all good works.

ALL SCRIPTURE includes the Old Testament. Here are a few more examples:

1 Corinthians 10:11 says the things that happened in the old days were examples for us in the end times and were written down as warnings to us.

Jude 1:7, and 2 Peter 2:6 tell us that the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them were recorded in the Old Testament as an example of eternal fire and what will happen to those who live ungodly lives.

Romans 15:1 says the things written in the Old Testament were written for our instruction, so that, through patience, and the comfort of the scriptures, we might have hope.

So, I encourage you to read the Old Testament. It is a great work on the creation of the world and mankind. It contains the history of God’s people and his dealings with them over a few thousand years. It tells us the history of the ancestors of our Lord, Jesus. We must realize that the Old Testament is part of this complete book that God has preserved for his people for thousands of years. He didn’t preserve it for no reason. He preserved it for us to study, and to understand his purpose for us, and his great love for us. It’s all God’s word from beginning to end, and all of it is important.

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NO CHICKEN FOR ME PLEASE

When I was around nine or ten years old, I lived in the small town of Theo, Mississippi with my grandmother, and two of my younger sisters. The town was only a few square miles in size, so we could walk to the store, or walk to visit our aunt or any of the neighbors my grandmother decided to visit. We didn’t have a car, but our aunt did, so if we needed to go outside our little community, she would take us.

One day, we walked to the store, and on our way back home, we stopped to visit one of the neighbors who was friends with my grandmother. They had known each other for many years.

She was cooking the next meal for her family so she invited us inside to visit while she cooked.

She asked my grandmother if we would like to stay, and eat with them. My grandmother thanked her for the invitation and accepted it. I was thinking, sure, okay, I’m a little hungry. I could eat something. She said, “We’re having chicken. Shake ‘n Bake chicken.” She had my attention because I loved chicken.

We were good kids, at least in other people’s homes. We were taught to be quiet and not interrupt while grownups were talking, so we sat still and were quiet, for the most part, as the adults talked, and laughed.

Then she started to prepare the chicken to cook. Back then, I don’t remember ever seeing chicken pre-cut, so the chicken was whole, and you had to cut it up yourself before cooking, so that’s what she did first. Then she washed the pieces of chicken and put them in a bowl.

Then, she put the Shake ‘n Bake mix in the bag and dropped a few pieces of chicken into the mix. Then, she proceeded to put the bag to her mouth and blow into it like a balloon filling it with air from her mouth. Then she started shaking it to coat the chicken with the breading.

“Oh, God! Help me, Jesus! Please get me out of here” That’s kind of what I was screaming in my mind. There was no way I was going to eat that chicken after what I just saw. I couldn’t tell them I didn’t want to eat it because I thought what she did was nasty, but I couldn’t even imagine eating it. So I told my grandmother I wanted to go home. I insisted and persisted. I told her I didn’t feel good, and I really didn’t after what I had just witnessed. I begged her, “Please, let’s go home. Please.” I begged, and pled with her until she finally gave in, and we went home.

In Luke 18:1-8, Jesus told a parable about a Persistent Widow. In verse 1, he tells us the meaning of the parable is that we should always pray and not give up until we get an answer.

1 Thessalonians 5:17, says to “pray without stopping.” We need to be in a constant state of prayer. We need to keep our connection with God open at all times, not only when we need something or want something. He’s always there, so we can talk to him all day long just like we would with any other friend.

We may not always get the answer we want, and the answer may not come immediately, but when we have some specific need, we should keep asking until he answers us.

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CATS, RATS, SNAKES, AND BOBCATS

When I was young, my aunt had a well in her backyard. It was the kind you have to lower a bucket down into and draw up the water. She built a shed over it connecting it to the house, then she closed it in with tin siding. She stored a few things in there like firewood, gardening tools, and miscellaneous things she didn’t want in the house. She left the ground for the floor and eventually, the grass all died and it was a dirt floor.

One day, I noticed several large holes in the ground behind the kitchen. They were tunnels leading under the house. There were big piles of dirt in front of them where something big had been digging. I asked my aunt what it was and she said it was Gopher Rat holes. Then, my uncle said the rats were so big that he had to use a stick of firewood to kill them.

My aunt had several cats and dogs over the years with weird names. She had a cat named Blackie, and one named Brownie, because of their color. She had a cat named Tom because he was a Tomcat, and a dog named Snowball because he was white and fluffy.

There was a rectangular hole in the floor under the kitchen sink where the big drain pipe ran under the floor. It was big enough for the cats to climb through, so my aunt put a piece of wood there like a ramp to make it easier for the cats to come in and go out of the house. Her cats were not the only thing that could come through the hole, and they weren’t the only things that did.

One day, we were at her house and she went into the kitchen for something. All of a sudden, we heard an awful commotion and she started yelling. Of course, we all ran to see what was going on. There on the floor by the stove and the back door was a big, long, black snake and it was squirming all over the floor trying to get away from the broom she was hitting it with. For some reason, I don’t remember if she killed it or if it got away, probably because we ran out of there.

I also found a baby mouse there one time by that stove behind the door. It didn’t have any hair and it was so cute, but knowing what they grow up to become, my grandmother wouldn’t let me keep it. She told me to put it back where I got it because the mother was probably looking for it.

My aunt told us about another time she went into the kitchen and found an uninvited guest. She said she got up one morning and went to make coffee and found a bobcat sitting there eating her cat’s food. Of course, he ran back under the sink and escaped through the hole her cats went in and out of. She said he came in several times. I wanted her to catch it so I could have it as a pet, but she said, “That thing’s wild. It’ll tear you all to pieces.” She said she prepared some hot water to dash on the bobcat one morning, so he would stop coming in and eating her cat’s food, and after she did that, it never came back again. I thought that was mean of her, but I think it can be a good spiritual lesson.

Sometimes sin sneaks into our lives. But, we don’t always recognize it as sin because we've let our guard down. Sin is often disguised as something other than what it truly is. Sometimes, it keeps coming back again and again. Maybe we need to dash some hot water on it and get it out of our lives for good.

The Bible says that God is able to keep us from sinning (Jude 1:24). We need that close, personal relationship with Jesus, and the Holy Spirit living in our minds to lead, and guide us. Staying in constant contact with God is a very important part of that relationship (1 Thessalonians 5:17). That includes listening as well as talking. It’s a relationship between created human beings and our loving Creator. What a beautiful relationship.

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© 2021 Teddy Lynn – All Rights Reserved

My books are available in paperback and digital format on Amazon @ 
https://www.amazon.com/Teddy-Lynn/e/B01MZDB6L6