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CHAPTER 2      
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Some Thoughts On Matters Of Import


Chapter 2: Balances

Balance -- what does it mean to you?

"The overseer should therefore be irreprehensible, a husband of one wife, moderate in habits, sound in mind, orderly, hospitable, qualified to teach."
(1Timothy 3:2)

        Picture a man standing on a wire, hundreds of feet above the ground with no safety net.   From time to time he may have to reach out to avoid falling.   And he certainly doesn't want to have a lot of baggage to carry around up there.

How do we balance on our two feet?   "By pushing on the ground," you could say.   How do we know that we have to push on the ground in order to stand upright?   It's probably because we all lose our balance ever so slightly at various times.   We're aware of it, but what if we weren't aware of losing our balance.   What would happen?   Well, we would have to move our feet to keep them under our body.   And if we didn't move them quickly enough, we would still be somewhat off-balance.   Again, if we didn't push hard enough with our feet to regain our balance fully, we would have to move them again to regain our balance.   If this continued, we might well find ourselves halfway across the room without ever having intended to be there!   Could a person who remained on his feet but drifted around a room in this fashion be said to be balanced?   Hardly.   So balance really has to do with deliberate choices based on conscious awareness.

There is another way to keep our balance.   Do you remember the highwire artist mentioned at the beginning of the chapter?   He might have to 'reach out' to keep his balance.   1Timothy 3:1 says "If any man is reaching out for an office of overseer, he is desirous of a fine work."   If you saw a person who could not keep his balance drifting across the room in the way described in the previous paragraph, what would you do?   Step out of the way?   So, we may reach out for privileges in the Christian congregation.   It need not be anything grandiose; it could be 'helpful services' as a former rebel described them at 1Corinthians 12:28.

What if we are untrained at keeping our balance?   Is there no way for us to attempt the walk on the tightrope?   Actually, a long pole, held across the front of the body, can assist a tightrope walker to 'reach out' even better, and thereby help offset the weight of his body.




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