Religious Activity

When the Crystal Palace Exhibition opened in 1851, people flocked to London's Hyde Park to behold the marvels. One of the greatest marvels back them was steam. Steam plows were displayed. Steam locomotives, steam looms, steam organs, even a steam cannon.

Of all the great exhibits that year, the first-prize winner was a steam invention with seven thousand parts. When it was turned on, its pulleys, whistles, bells, and gears made a lot of noise, but, ironically, the contraption didn't do a thing! Seven thousand moving parts making a lot of commotion but having no practical use.

With the high-tech era we live in, it's easy to confuse activity with accomplishment, to be fooled into thinking that the sound of gears and pulleys is the sound of something important being done.

Is that true of your life? Of your church? Are there hundreds, even thousands, of parts spinning and turning and making a lot of noise, but accomplishing very little?

If so, just remember that even though your contraption may win a prize at the state fair or the denominational convention, God is the final judge. And what you think has substance may dissipate before His searching eyes like steam.