All Satan's Apples Have Worms

All Satan's Apples Have Worms
Michael J. Brooks

We've just come through the Christmas season after which many of us made exchanges. We took something back that didn't fit, or something back that didn't work, and got a replacement. Jesus talked about an exchange in Matthew 16:26: "For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?"

The soul is the part of us that communes with God. Humankind is unlike the plant and animal kingdoms since our Creator invites us to fellowship with him. And according to Jesus, it's never been beneficial to exchange our soul for something less.

Our first parents did in Eden. Adam and Eve listened to the voice of the serpent who promised they could be their own gods. However, they were banished from paradise and the presence of the Lord.

The prophet Jeremiah warned King Zedekiah of Judah that God would use Babylon to punish him. The king made an alliance with Egypt to save himself, but Egypt fell. Zedekiah then turned to the idols of Canaan and erected false images in his palace. But he didn't turn to God. The king lost his throne, his sons and his freedom.

Jesus met a young man and loved him, as he still loves all young people whose lives are filled with promise. He told the young man to sell his possessions and follow Jesus. But the young man loved money more than he valued his soul.

It's foolish to trade anything in exchange for one's soul because nothing we get in exchange is ultimately worth it. Of what value is a little money, prestige or power if we're living beneath the privilege of knowing, loving and serving God?

A fable tells of a lark whose beautiful song filled the forest, but who was hated for this attention by a crafty rat. The rat hatched a plot to destroy the lark. He came and praised the bird's music, telling him it was such a shame that he had to search for food instead of singing all day. Then the rat offered to provide food for the lark.

"How much will it cost?" asked the lark.

"One worm for one feather," the rat replied.

At the end of the day the lark was so full of worms that he couldn't sing, and had no feathers left to fly away. The crafty rat destroyed him.

An evangelist of another generation, John R. Rice, used to preach a sermon entitled, "All Satan's Apples Have Worms." And so it remains a great tragedy when people choose things of lesser importance over the opportunity to commune with God.

Godly Sorrow

Godly Sorrow
Michael J.Brooks

Hollywood actress, Zsa Zsa Gabor, who was also Miss Hungary 1936, offered some advice for Valentine's Day: "Marry for love. Keep marrying 'til you find it." Accordingly she's been married nine times! She's obviously had some troubled relationships.

The apostle Paul had a troubled relationship with the Corinthian church. He founded the church, along with his friends Aquila and Priscilla, but critics arose to poison the relationship. They said he wasn't a genuine apostle since he wasn't in the original band of 12, and they insisted he was only after their money. This trouble relationship caused Paul to write a stern letter to them--he called it a "painful letter." He defended his calling and chastised them for daring to criticize a man of God so unjustly.

Paul referenced this painful letter in 2 Corinthians 7 telling the church it made them sorry, and he was glad (vs. 8-9)! He rejoiced that their sorrow brought repentance and a changed life. Then he explained that their sorrow was "godly sorrow" as opposed to "worldly sorrow" (v. 10).

Worldly sorrow means that one gets caught with hands in the cookie jar, regrets to be so exposed but does not change one's lifestyle. We've seen this often in the lives of celebrities who are scorned, allegedly renounce their wrong but really don't forsake it.

I think of one political leader who put together a support group of three leaders to hold him accountable. I met one of these men at a conference and talked with him about this work for a few minutes. But by all accounts, this political leader never left his deviant lifestyle.

In contrast, godly sorrow leads to genuine repentance and a changed life.

Charles Colson, a tough-talking ex-Marine, was known as President Nixon's hatchet man. Colson reportedly said he'd run over his own grandmother if it helped the president. For his Watergate-related crimes, he spent six months in the federal prison at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery.

During this time Colson found Christ and wrote about his experiences in his book, "Born Again."

The critics said he was only sorry he'd been incarcerated and doubted his commitment. But Colson proved his sincerity by going back to prison, time and again, telling inmates about the love of God.

Prison Fellowship counters recidivism--the fact that the majority of inmates return to prison. The organization teaches faith, honor and character so that inmates aren't just punished, but rehabilitated.

President George W. Bush awarded Colson the Presidential Citizens Medal in 2008--interestingly, a medal first authorized by President Nixon. Colson went to prison for one president and was honored by another.

His godly sorrow brought repentance and a change of life.