by David Gibson<\/p>\n
Occasionally, I visit a farm supply store in our town. Like other such businesses, there are rows of shelves neatly displaying merchandise by category: work and casual clothing, tires, tools, implements, and garden supplies. That is how it should be!<\/p>\n
Imagine going into a store where everything is in a jumble with no discernible order at all. Who would want to shop there?<\/p>\n
In our homes, knowing where our things are kept is a great time saver, and if we can keep it that way, it has a positive psychological effect on us.<\/p>\nIn walking around our town, I used to see a terribly junky place directly across the street from an extremely neat and well-maintained house and yard. One was an eyesore, while the other is a sight for sore eyes. Since then, the junky place has been demolished. Good riddance!
\nApparently, some folks think nothing of living in a constant state of chaotic mess.\n
That our God believes in doing things in an orderly way is evident in the very first chapter of the Bible. Initially, “The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep<\/em>” (Genesis 1:2 NASB). Then methodically, day by day, He brings beautiful order out of primal chaos. By week’s end, “God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good<\/em>” (Genesis 1:31).<\/p>\n During Israel’s wilderness wanderings, God designed the logistics of their moves from place to place, even down to the precise order in which the tribes would set out when they broke camp. He also organized the Levites into divisions of labor, assigning each group specific tasks for dismantling the tabernacle and setting it up again at the next location.<\/p>\n In the church’s worship today, “all things must be done properly and in an orderly manner<\/em>” (I Corinthians 14:40). This creates an atmosphere conducive to learning and mutual upbuilding.<\/p>\n Perhaps the best way to describe our current culture is “Out of Order.”<\/p>\n As those who have been brought “out of darkness into His marvelous light<\/em>” (I Peter 2:9), may we exemplify what John Greenleaf Whittier’s hymn so beautifully expresses,<\/p>\n by David Gibson A place for everything, and everything in its place Occasionally, I visit a farm supply store in our town. Like other such businesses, there are rows of shelves neatly displaying merchandise by category: work and casual clothing, tires, tools, implements, and garden supplies. That is how it should be! Imagine going into…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[1837],"class_list":["post-95920","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-orderly"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":29289,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-home-place\/","url_meta":{"origin":95920,"position":0},"title":"The Home Place","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 1, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jefferson David Tant The scene comes clearly to my mind's eye even now. After crossing the mighty Mississippi at Vicksburg, we knew there were only 150 miles to the little town of Haynesville, Louisiana, and \"the old home place.\" \"Home\" is one of the sweet and dear words from\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/old-home-300x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":7528,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-were-the-tithes-taken-to-jerusalem-in-the-new-testament\/","url_meta":{"origin":95920,"position":1},"title":"Why were the tithes taken to Jerusalem in the New Testament?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 16, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I use your site so much for lessons and study and appreciate the articles and answered questions. I have a question that I wondered about after doing a \"giving\" study. I asked in a ladies\u2019 group, too. On a study of giving under the New Law vs. Old Law.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":37664,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/truth-is-not-geographically-convenient\/","url_meta":{"origin":95920,"position":2},"title":"Truth Is Not Geographically Convenient","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 4, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Perry Hall I'm not a fan of \"Field of Dreams Evangelism.\" That is, \"Let's build a church building on the other side of town to make it easier for people to come to church.\" In other words, \"If we build it, they will come.\" Good intentions, but I doubt\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/isolated-church-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":68200,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-i-go-to-bible-study-and-worship\/","url_meta":{"origin":95920,"position":3},"title":"Do I go to Bible study and worship?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 23, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Good morning, sir, I am writing from Nigeria in Western Africa. One day, in the village where I visited a brother, the King sent his town crier (messenger) to announce that the weekend would be used to perform some ritual rites from Saturday morning to Sunday night. They warned\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":29299,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/if-there-are-no-warnings-for-the-second-coming-of-christ-then-what-about-the-signs-in-revelation\/","url_meta":{"origin":95920,"position":4},"title":"If there are no warnings for the second coming of Christ, then what about the signs in Revelation?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 25, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: If there are no warning signs for the last days or second coming of Christ, what do the Bowls, Seals, and Trumpets represent in Revelation? Answer: Revelation deals with things that were to take place shortly. One of the greatest errors people make in regards to understanding Revelation is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":53833,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-dwelling-place-of-god\/","url_meta":{"origin":95920,"position":5},"title":"The Dwelling Place of God","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 12, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: I Kings 8:22-30 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0When the world was first created, mankind had direct access to God, but then sin entered the picture - Genesis 3:8 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Sin becomes a barrier between us and God - Isaiah 59:1-3 II.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0God is everywhere - Psalms 139 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0There is no\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95920","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95920"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95920\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95920"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95920"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95920"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}“Take from our souls the strain and stress,
\nAnd let our ordered lives confess
\nThe beauty of thy peace.”<\/blockquote>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"