“Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.” Psalm 8:2

Our Vacation Bible School theme this week is how God uses little things. God is able to use those people that the world views as weak and insignificant to accomplish great things. He does this because He is so great and mighty. 1 Corinthians 1:27 says, “But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty.” The nature of the church, the kingdom, is “like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field: Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof” Matthew 13:31-32. The world tends to think the mighty people who are the strongest and most intelligent will overcome, but God uses people like Paul, who said of his thorn in the flesh, “I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10).
Think of the baby boy that was placed in the Nile and discovered by Pharaoh’s daughter (Exodus 2:1-10). Would anyone but God have known that this infant would one day grow to be a great leader to deliver the Hebrews from their mighty Egyptian oppressors? Think of the young shepherd boy who was not old enough to serve as a soldier (1 Samuel 17:28). Would anyone but God have predicted that he would defeat Goliath (1 Samuel 17:49-50), the giant Philistine, and one day become Israel’s greatest king (Acts 13:22)? Or what about the baby boy who was born to a poor couple who traveled to the small town of Bethlehem, who was placed in a manger because there was no room for Him in the inn (Luke 2:7)? Only God foreknew that this child would be the world’s Savior, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Indeed, God’s strength is made perfect in weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9).
Therefore, we can find solace in the fact that our best efforts, no matter how small and insignificant they may seem, can be used by God to accomplish great and wonderful things. Let us then do our work, whether it is in Vacation Bible School this week or in many other efforts of the church, and trust that God will multiply the effects many times over. To God be the glory!

-Mark Day

In Acts 17 Paul ran into a group of philosophers in Athens known as the Epicureans. They were followers of Epicurus who lived 341-270 BC and taught happiness was to be found in freedom from fear of God and death and practicing what brings one the most pleasure in this life. Does this sound familiar? The popular approach to life by the masses today is similar to Epicureanism. Stumpf said Epicureanism, “was a new direction in moral philosophy, for it focused upon the individual and his immediate desires for bodily and mental pleasures instead of upon abstract principles of right conduct or considerations of God’s commands.”

Acts 17:16 describes Athens as a “city wholly given to idolatry.” The idol among the Epicureans who resided in Athens was man himself. Romans 1:25 says that the Gentiles, “worshipped and served the creature more than the creator,” which is exactly what Epicurus did and what many have done today. The focus has been shifted from what God wants to what man wants.
Whenever man is put in the place of God, moral degradation occurs. This is because there remains no objective standard for right and wrong in the minds of those who reject God as the standard for goodness. Epicurus taught against excess, claiming that it did not lead to the greatest happiness, but if man’s pleasure is the barometer for goodness, then who is to say that any self-restraint is more pleasurable than excess? The entire issue of good and evil becomes subjective and what each individual regards as the most pleasurable wins out. With God removed and man placed on the throne, every man does that which is right in his own eyes (Judges 21:25).
Jeremiah 10:23 says, “O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.” Whether it is the Epicurus himself, the Epicureans Paul challenged a couple centuries later, or people today, man, left to himself, is too self-centered and sinful to do what is right. Paul concluded his sermon in Acts 17:30-31 by appealing to them to repent and follow the ways of the true God so that they will be prepared for the judgment of Jesus Christ that awaits all mankind. Instead of turning a blind eye to death and God’s commands, true happiness is found in preparing for death by following God’s commands. God knows what is good and right for us. He rightfully belongs on the throne; He is the righteous judge (Acts 17:30). When we sin we pull God off the throne of our hearts and sit on the throne ourselves, worshipping our own desires. Let us set the Lord alone on the throne of our hearts and make His ways our ways (1 Peter 3:15).

-Mark Day