THE END OF A GOLDEN STRING
Scripture: Phil 3:7-14
Text: lst Corinthians 13:12 “Now we know in part”
INTRODUCTION
William Blake in is poem entitles Jerusalem says, “I give you the end of a Golden String. Only wind it into a ball. It will lead you into heaven’s gate, built into Jerusalem’s wall”. It is the Golden String of God’s purpose for your life. As you take the end of the string and begin to roll it into a ball, you begin walk. Your path may be difficult, your future obscured, but rest assured, God has his eye upon you.
After Moses died, God came to Joshua and called him to lead the children of Israel into the promised land. God said, “I am with you where ever you go. As I was with Moses, so will I be with you. Be
strong and very courageous.” Joshua took God at his word and began to prepare the people for the crossing of Jordan. Our Lord says to Christians of every generation, “I will never leave you nor forsake you”. I will never let you down, so keep on winding. The important question is not my destination, but will my path lead me
there? It is not “when shall I get there” but am I headed in the right direction?
I. Am I Following The Golden String?
One of the great tragedies of our world is that so many people have no goal in mind and take the path of least resistance. They are like the
multitudes of Jesus today, “Sheep without a shepherd wandering aimlessly about.”
Paul had a goal and he set both heart and face in that direction. He was aiming for Christ likeness and although he was coming down the
home stretch he did not slacken his pace nor look behind. He was aiming toward the goal and determined to cross the finish line a winner.
He had not arrived but he was upon is way. His heart was in it. Paul’s determination to win reminds me of the little boy who was a contestant in a race. He was off to a good start and was ahead of the others. As
he came down the home stretch, his lips were moving. Later when asked what he was saying, he said, “I was praying Lord you pick them up and I’ll put them down”. The Lord picked them up and he put them down so fast that he won the race. Paul might have prayed “Lord you pick them up and I’ll put them down, for he crossed the finish line a winner.
Our Lord spent much of His time on the road and he gave us a religion for the road. He had a word for the smooth road, for the folks who were wealthy and blessed over abundantly. He did not condemn
riches. He said rather “Take heed. Beware of deceitfulness of riches”. Riches may bring us a false sense of security. We may depend on them instead of the Lord, Riches do not guarantee happiness. Then Jesus gave us a word for the rough road. “Let not your hearts be troubled. Don’t go to pieces. Commit thy burden upon the Lord and He shall sustain you”. Go forward with a quiet heart. Keep winding your golden string. Jesus gave us a word for the end of the road. “Igive unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish and no man is able to steal them from me”.
In the book “The Last Hundred Days”, John Toland tells of an incident that took place in World War II when Dwight Eisenhower was with the troops of the 30th Infantry Division. As the General walked among the
soldiers before the crossing of the Rhine River he met a solider who was extremely nervous and scared. He said unto him, “Soldier, how are you feeling?” The young man said “General I’m awful nervous. I was
wounded two months ago and not released from the hospital until yesterday, and I don’t feel well.” Ike said “I’m nervous too, we’ve planned the crossing for a long time. We’ve got all the planes, guns, and troops we can use. Maybe if we walked to the river together it would help both of us. Deeply moved and encouraged by the General’s offer, the soldier said, “I’m not nervous anymore and I guess it isn’t so bad around here afterall!”
As we come down the home stretch it is encouraging to know that there is one on the road beside us, one who has promised to be always with us no matter what. God has a purpose for each of us and with the purpose goes the promise of his presence.
II. Secondly, We start with only the end of that Golden String
The end may seem very small, but because I cannot know all, shall I reject the little that is real to me? Very often one hears the complaint,“I can see Jesus as a good man, yes, the best man that ever lived. I can see Him as a great teacher and prophet, but I cannot see how he can be divine.”
Such a one does not seem to realize how much is contained in the little that he professed. That is the end of the Golden String indeed. “Best Man”, “Great teacher”, “Wonderful Prophet”. That is where Peter, James, and John started out as they followed, listened, obeyed and their little became more and more until Peter spoke for them all when he said, “Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God”. Matthew 16:16.
A young man came to an evangelist with a long list of questions. He said, “I will answer your questions if you will promise to do one thing. Give your heart to Christ and then bring your questions to me.” The young man walked away but two days later he came back. His face was radiant. Where are you questions? “I have none. The moment I
received Christ as my Savior I had the answer to most of them, and the others doesn’t matter any more”. Reception of Christ as your Savior is the place to start to.
III. Wind the Golden String into a Ball
Take it a day at a time but take it. God wants us to keep moving along. Rolland Hill saw a child riding a hobby horse. He said, “That lad reminds me of some christians. Plenty of motion but no progress”. As Marcus Dodd once said, “Conversion is only 5 percent of the christian life. 95 percent is going on with Christ. Oliver Wendall Holms wrote,
“To reach the port, we must sail, sometimes with the wind and sometimes against it, but we must sail and not drift or lie at anchor.”
The motto of the French Foreign Legion is, “If I falter, push me on. If I stumble, pick me up. If I retreat, shoot me?” The Bible says that God has no pleasure in them that draw back. God’s command through Paul Hebrew 6:1 is, “Let us go on to perfection.”
Mrs. W.K. Norton, a faith missionary setting out for India by ship tells of wondering where she would go reaching India since she no mission board back on her. Then God gave her a dream. In the dream she saw
herself standing on a little wooden plank in the middle of the ocean. There was nothing in front of her, nothing in back of her nothing on either side, but as she lifted her foot to step another little plank appeared just in front for her to step on it, then another and another as they were needed. God seemed to be telling her that she could trust him for one step at a time. She went faithfully on always finding a plank on which to step.
Wind the string into a ball. An engineer was confined to his bed because of crippling arthritis, but because of his great skill he was
asked to draw the plans for a great suspension bridge. The bridge was built. On the say of its completion four men came and carried his bed
out to a place where he could see the bridge. Looking down at the plan in his hands he said, “The bridge is just like the plan”.
God has his blueprints, life’s plan for our lives. Are we building according to his plan? What a joy to hear him say, “Your life is just like my plan.”
CONCLUSION
I have said that our chief concern in not destination but direction, but let’s face it. Choice of direction determines destination. As it has been
said, “He who chooses the beginning of a road, chooses the place it leads to. Paul found the end of the Golden String. He knew the goal and the way to it. He reached it by faithfully keeping on. Keep winding and you will reach the end of the Golden String.
