The Farmville herald. (Farmville, Va.) 1957-current, 1962-11-09

thing just as true, and for us
very important: it is a book
about man. Just as there are
truths about God that will not
be known unless God reveals
them, so there are truths about
man that have to be shown us.
The race Of man has seldom
taken itself seriously enough.
Men suppose they are like the
beasts that perish: today here,
tomorrow gone, and nothing else
to be said. Men think their lives
are so short and insignificant
that it does not matter to any
one what they do, Men have
thought Of themselves as SO tied
to this planet Earth that when it
dies we shall die with it. Men
have seen that we are animals,
and so they think we need no
more than animals do, food, a
little place in the sunshine.
What's right or wrong for a
beast is right or wrong for us
and so forth.
Man the Master
The Bible gives no encourage
ment to any such mistakes. Man
is much higher than a mere
higher animal" He is first of
all creature of God, that is the
key to the meaning Of his exis-
tence. Thou hast made him, =
the poet-psalmist cries. This
alone gives man a glory. The
same hand that wrought the uni
verse. the same Mind that con-
ceived the galaxies. are the
mind and the hand that design
ed and developed man and man.
kind. Not only SO, but God has
made man only a little lower
than God, so far as this earth
is concerned. On this earth, our
home, God has set man as the
master of all. Every living thing
is placed under the control of
man. Much that man does, es-
pecially the good that man does.
is part of his continuing age old
struggle to be what God created
and intended him to be: master
of life on this planet. Every hos
pital you see is a battle-ground,
a part Of the long war against
the tiny living things that cause
disease - germs and vil'uSeS.
When you see a wheat field or
a water tower, you see signs Of
mans conquest of hunger and
thirst. When you see a clothing
store, or turn on your furnace
or light the wood in your fire
place, you are looking at part of
mans long war with the eli
mates in which he lives. Man is
not meant by the high God to
be the victim of his environment
but to rise above it and control
it.
Man the Slave
But that is not the whole
story. The meaning of man is
not to be found in his conquests
alone. but in his service. Some
master he must have. Man lit
has been said is "incurably re-
ligiouS." That is to say, some
God man must have. He has a
kind of worshipping instinct.
The strange thing is that man
is often found devoting himself
and his talents to what is actu-
ally below him.
Jesus put it memorably: You
cannot serve God and mammon;
in other words. you cannot serve
God and money. To serve God
is to fulfill the purpose for
which you were created. To
serve money. to serve things. is
to be a slave of what should
serve man, not ride him. What
ever a man hangs his heart on
and depends on. that is God to
him. said Martin Luther. Strange
how many idols man makes for
himself!
Man the Spirit
Another mistake men make
about themselves is to confuse
themselves with their bodies.
This is a natural mistake. be-
cause whatever we do or think,
we can do or think only with
the aid of our bodies. But that
does not mean that the body is
the most important part of us.
1t does not rate our major con-
centrated interest. It does not
deserve the pampering we give
it. Jesus asks why we put so
much thought on caring for our
bodies.
A lady selling a young peo-
Pies encyclopedia went by ap-
pointement to a beautiful home
with several children. The lady
OF the house did not want the
encyclopedia: too expensive, she
said. Her visitor pointed out:
"As ! came up the drive l no
ticed about 5000 worth Of play
equipment - bicycles and what
not = in the yard. Why do you
spend all that for what's below
their necks and begrudge the
same money for their minds?"
And she might well have added:
And how much do you spend
for their souls?"
Biased on outlines copyrighted
k>uy a. -