Articles by Dr. David Jeremiah
In 1859 Charles Dickens wrote A Tale of Two Cities, a novel featuring events that occurred in eighteenth-century Paris and London. The Bible also describes a tale of two cities—Jerusalem and Babylon. Jerusalem, of course, we know as the historical capital of God’s chosen nation, Israel, and the future earthly capital of His Kingdom. Babylon, on the other hand, is the city which the Bible uses as a symbol for the worst of the world’s evils—extreme decadence, cruelty, ravenous power, and implacable contention against God.
Against the backdrop of grim news from the frontlines of World War II, three songwriters met in a New York City diner just before Christmas in 1942. Two had written blockbusters. Walter Kent’s wartime song, “The White Cliffs of Dover,” was being sung around the world. The second man, lawyer-turned-songwriter Kim Gannon, had scored a hit when Glenn Miller recorded his “Moonlight Cocktail.” The third man, Buck Ram, was hitless. As they chatted about Christmas songs, Ram slid a piece of paper across the table. It contained words he’d written in the 1920s—a song telling his mother how he missed her while away at college during the holidays. The title was “I’ll Be Home for Christmas.” The words were nothing like the words we know today; they were plain and lackluster, and little was said about them. Returning home, Ram couldn’t find his scrap of paper, but he didn’t worry about it because his publisher had a copyrighted copy.
David Hemery was a member of the 1968 British Olympic team. He was scheduled to run the 400-metres hurdles against a group that included the world record holder. In fact, five of his competitors had clocked faster times than he did. Halfway through the race he was surprised to find himself passing some of the stronger runners. Eventually he didn’t see anyone in his peripheral vision. As he crossed the finish line, he didn’t know who had won the race. “Suddenly,” Hemery wrote, “I saw Peter Lorenzo, the BBC commentator, running towards me across the track. He shoved a microphone in my hand. My first comment was: ‘Did I win?’” He did, setting a new world record in the 400-metres hurdles.[1] Hemery’s race was a very short time—48.12 seconds. But when he crossed the finish line, he had no awareness of his victory. All he knew was that he was gasping for breath without a clue as to who won. There’s a lesson for us in that experience: We should not live our Christian life as if we are unaware of the victory that is ours! [1] David Hemery, “David Hemery: ‘I didn’t know I had won, let alone beaten the world record,’” Independent, June 12, 2012, http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/olympics/david-hemery-i-didnt-know-i-had-won-let-alone-beaten-the-world-record-7836933.html.
Like most of the systems in our cars, a tiny icon on the dashboard is all we see of our car’s cooling system—a thermometer-looking icon with an H (Hot) at the top and a C (Cold) at the bottom and a line right in the middle that means “Just Right” (the Goldilocks approach to auto diagnostics: not too hot, not too cold, but just right). Think about this: The water in the car radiator has to be cool enough to keep the engine from overheating, but hot enough to generate heat for the car’s heater to keep us warm in winter. And there is a complex system of checks and balances that allows that to happen: the car’s thermostat, adding coolant (antifreeze) to the water, the spring-loaded radiator cap, and the radiator fan that draws air through the radiator to cool the circulating water. I’m so amazed that smart people have figured out a way to keep our car’s water at around 190 degrees Fahrenheit—not too hot and not too cold, but just right. If the water overheats, the engine boils over with billowing clouds of steam. And if it gets too hot due to a lack of water, the engine parts can literally melt together so the engine “freezes up.” And an engine that’s too cool will fail to heat up the engine’s lubricating oil creating more friction and wear, leading to poor gas mileage. I think you get the point: Consistency is the key when it comes to your car’s water temperature and cooling system.
None of us like inspections any more than we like pop quizzes in school or checkups at the doctor’s office. We tend to resent going to the emission centers before getting our car tags or having to wait for the city codes division to inspect the electrical work on our house before flipping on the switch. But imagine living in a world without safeguards, supervision, standards, or checkups. The Bible teaches that we need inspection and examination in our inner hearts as well. David makes this the theme of Psalm 139, which could be aptly titled “A Plea for Inspection.” He began Psalm 139 by saying, “Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off. You comprehend my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways.” He went on to say that we can never escape God’s inspecting eye, nor do we want to. Then in a twist at the end, David prayed, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties; and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Psalm 139 begins and ends with inspections. “You have searched me and known me…. Search me, O God, and know my heart.” When did we last pray like that, asking God to put us on the examination table and probe our hearts? When did we last say, “Lord, audit my thoughts and weigh my motives?” Though we love Psalm 139, we don’t often seriously pray the last two verses.
