MORE LORD, MORE!
Don Hawley
I am awake in the middle of the night because the Lord just revealed to me a simple but precious lesson.
Many have heard the phrase, "Packed like sardines in a can," but few know the meaning of that saying. The truth is that the more sardines the manufacturer can squeeze into the can the greater his profit, because the packing oil is more costly than the fish!
Just so in life. Jesus sent his disciples out with the Gospel net to make them "fishers of men." The next time you see a net opening onto the deck of a fishing trawler, and thousands of fish spilling out, think of the coming harvest. We too are disciples, and Jesus bids us to "Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch." Luke 5:4.
Jesus, the Master Fisherman, is about to let down the nets for the last time. This time the catch will embrace the entire human race, but a final separation must take place. When I was a sailor in the South Pacific during World War II, I learned many fish were highly poisonous; often those particularly attractive in appearance. I can still see the natives quickly and expertly separating the fish into two piles, one to be saved and the other to be discarded.
Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away. This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Matt. 13:47-50.
Since Jesus shed his blood for men and women, they are "more precious than the gold of Ophir." But there is something even more precious, and that is the oil--the Holy Spirit. Compared to the third person of the Godhead, we are mere "sardines." He is our Comforter, our Guide to all truth, the Giver of spiritual gifts, and our only Source of strength. "Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit," says the Lord Almighty. Zech. 4:6.
If we are to be among those who are saved in the harvest, if we are to assist with the harvesting, it will be only through the ministry of the Holy Spirit. I am distraught that today so many professed Christians are either unaware of the Spirit's role, or are frightened when he manifests himself in our midst. Since Pentecost we have been living in the dispensation of the Holy Spirit, and it is mandatory that we understand what he is doing today. As we see him touching lives with divine power, we can only say, "More, Lord! More!"