PRACTICE LEARNING TO BE CORRECTED EASILY

The first church I pastored was a community church out in the country. I usually went out Saturday night, spent Saturday and Sunday nights, and came back into town on Monday. I stayed quite often in the home of a dear Methodist man. This fine spiritual man, a great man really, was 89 years old. He and I didn't get up as early as the others did on his farm. They would be out doing chores or be out working in the field when this older gentleman and I had breakfast together about 8 o'clock. I didn't drink coffee, but this old gentleman did. Now you could scarcely believe it unless you saw it, but he had one of those old-fashioned coffee pots—this was the mid-30's—sitting on an old-fashioned wood stove with coffee boiling in it. I have seen him take that boiling coffee, pour it into a big thick mug—and when it was still so hot it simmered in that mug—turn it up to his mouth, and drink the whole cup.

The first time I saw him do it, I hollered. I felt like my mouth and throat were burning. How could he do that? I couldn't. The tissues of my lips, the inside of my mouth, my throat and esophagus are so tender, just one teaspoonful would have burned all the way down. But he drank a whole mug without taking it away from his mouth. He couldn't do that to begin with though. Through years of drinking coffee that hot, his lips and mouth, and throat and esophagus became seared. Eventually, he could drink it that hot, and it didn't bother him.

Spiritually, the same thing can happen. Learn to keep a tender conscience. Learn the minute you miss it and your conscience condemns you, to correct it right then. Don't wait until you go to church. Immediately say, "Lord, forgive me. I missed it." If you have to, if someone else saw or heard you, tell that person right away, "I did wrong. Please forgive me. I shouldn't have said that." You will have to keep your spirit tender if you are going to be led by the Spirit. (K. E. Hagin)