In a world where religious confusion is rampant, it is refreshing to read and study the Bible. In an obvious effort to elevate himself, man has so complicated religion that what most people seek to pass off as devotion and service to God has no similar at all to what is written in the Bible. It is appalling to hear today’s theologians as they seed to justify such things as abortion on demand, homosexuality, social drinking, and many other fleshly gratifications.

Sports are not a recent phenomenon. Man has long been interested and engaged in athletic contests. Their influence is even reflected in the language of the Scriptures, particularly Paul’s writings. “I press on to the goal” (Phil. 3:4). “Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us” (Heb. 12:1-2). “I have finished the course” (2 Tim. 4:7).

Family. There’s something warm and inviting about the word. It floods the mind with thoughts of home and hearth, of fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, aunts, uncles, grandma and grandpa. It conjures memories–memories of togetherness, of commonality, of all being in one place at the same time. It calls to mind picnics, ball games, holidays spent with loved ones. Family. It just says something special. And the thing it most especially says is “together.”

I like to browse through the used book stores. There’s one on Spencer Highway that I particularly frequent called “The Dusty Cover.” Unfortunately, that also describes about half of the library in my office.

Responsibility is the lot of every normal person. Things that have no purpose have no right to exist. When Jesus came across the fig tree that bore no fruit, he cursed it and it died. It was not performing according to its purpose. Just as “to everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven” (Eccles. 3:1), there is a purpose for man. His primary purpose is to “fear God and keep His commandments” (Eccles. 12:13).