The Cracked Acorn: Movement

For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring. (Acts 17:28)

I watch foreign mystery films, especially Swedish ones.  I have noticed that on the English subtitles, the translators take advantage of several commonly used English words to convey action.  We have a wonderful language, and I often am amazed by the difficulty it must present to language people when they have to translate English into another language.  The Bible must be its own voice when we try to reach people beyond our shores.

Eventually, I want to ‘talk’ about one of those words, but first…are you old enough to remember ‘dollar’ watches? I do.  When I reached the 5th or 6th grade, my aunt gave me my first wrist watch which did not survive the school playground.  It was the first time that I grew interested in the inside of a watch.  I had overheard from the older people that I was looking at the movement.  I thought it was the most and ventured to ‘repair’ my broken wristwatch, which never worked out, but I did get knowledge and respect for those who had made the watch.  This was also the day of the pocket watch. Blue jeans came with a pocket for your watch, this was handy for farmers…it provided protection and safety for your Bulova pocket watch.

The word ‘movement’ is a noun. (Remember those English classes!) “We watched the graceful movements of a dancer.”

Christ is our ‘movement’ through Him; we ‘move’ and have our being in Him. Again: Acts 17:28.

Philippians 3:14…So I run straight(make movement) toward the goal in order to win the prize, which is God’s call through Christ Jesus to the life above.

John 5:8…Jesus said to him, Get up,(make the movements), pick up your mat, and walk.”

John 14:6…I am the way, I am the truth, I am the life; no one (makes the movement) to go to the Father except by me.”

Proverb 3:5,6…Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall (make the movements) to direct your paths.

Movement is kinetic energy and not stationary, or as I heard a Church of Christ minister put it, “If we wish to accept Christ and have it all, we could just enter our car, take off and put it on cruise and say, “Christ come into my heart!”, indeed many today wish that this could complete their salvation and know nothing thereafter.

I had the fortunate experience to hear Brother Marshall Keeble during my year in David Lipscomb…the following is good Christian advice.

“When mean things happen to you, don’t get angry; just pray for him, then go off and live so your prayers will be answered. Live so your friends won’t believe it, and your enemies can’t prove it”

“I’ve never murmured or complained at anything that ever happened to me. I’ve just stood still while God handled it, and He’s brought me this far. The people of Israel murmured and complained, and God told them, ‘Stand still, I’ll handle it.’”

Marshall Keeble (1878-1968)

Born to former slaves near Murfreesboro, Tennessee, Marshall Keeble became, in time, the most successful evangelist among Churches of Christ.