Song 2:15 KJV “Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes.”
1 Corinthians 10:12 KJV “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.”
Hard to see in this picture what use to be a vibrant campground for youth! Hard to imagine how it could go from a vibrant camp used to bring teenagers to Christ to a run down location with no purpose! Hard to imagine how the vision was lost over the years! Hard to imagine when the camp was first being built it would end up decayed and discarded!
The picture of this building brings back great memories in my life. Times when I went there as a youth and later as a counselor. This building served as the kitchen and eating area. It had a large room on the back sitting approximately 50 to 100 individuals. On the front was a huge screened in porch where we would sit and enjoy talking together.
When we moved this building to the property, the Georgia Association of Independent Methodist had bought, I rode on the roof as the tractor pulled the building down the road. It was my job to move the limbs, telephone cables, and other things out of the way. I still remember the excitement the building was used.
All of the cabins were built by different ones. Mr. Lamb and my father did the vast majority of the work on the camp because we were the closest church. The open-air building was used for the preaching of the Word of God. It was a great place to go to camp. No distractions! No hindrances!
But, time goes by, the vision fades and eventually dies. Buildings once used for the Lord lie in decay. Every day slowly decaying further, until the point the only thing one can do is tear it down and start fresh.
The land is still there. The buildings destroyed by neglect and time. The problem is the vision and desire to use the land for the Lord has died. It did not die over night, but slowly, ebbing away over the weeks, months, and years.
What a wake-up call this should be for churches, families, marriages, and individual lives!
Time, neglect, loss of vision, and other distractions can leave our lives in decay. From our marriages to our churches, if we do not keep the neglect at bay, then it can decay to the point of no return. So, how do we prevent this from happening?
1. Keep the vision alive – remember the goal of your life, marriage, family, and church. Remind yourself; evaluate yourself.
2. Keep your love fresh – remember why you love the Lord, remember what He has done for you. Remember why you love your spouse! Remember why you love your family and church. Rekindle the love in your life! Fan the fire, feed the fire, and keep the fire burning!
3. Keep good maintenance – do not allow neglect to allow decay to come in and destroy. It only takes a little rust to begin the process of destruction. It only takes a few weeds to begin choking out the garden.
4. Keep your eyes on the goal – never forget why you started the ministry, to bring glory to the Lord and see people come to Christ.
5. Remember no one is exempt from decay. Stand guard and keep yourself vigilant. Complacency is dangerous and destructive to everything.
Revelation 2:1–5 KJV “2:1 Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks;
2:2 I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:
2:3 And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name’s sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted.
2:4 Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.
2:5 Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.”
