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When I was a kid I wanted to be Superman and if I couldn’t manage that I would have settled for Mighty Mouse. Admittedly, the rodent look isn’t nearly as appealing as curly hair and bulging muscles but at least the mouse could fly, lift buildings, and catch bullets in his teeth.
Superman was so strong because he had been born on the doomed planet Krypton and there wasn’t much chance for me to arrange that since the deed had already been done (my birth that is). Not many people born in Howard County hospital can leap tall buildings in a single bound.
And Mighty Mouse was cool in his perpetual battles with the cat named Oil Can Harry and his girlfriend Pearl Pureheart. I ask you, what could be sharper than flying in at the last moment warbling in an opera voice, “Here I come to save the day!” (That means that Mighty Mouse is on the way,” explained other opera-voiced singers).
There were different stories about the source of Mighty Mouse’s strength. In one a cat chases him and he runs into a grocery store and eats Super Soap, Super Celery, Super Soup and Super cheese after which he becomes Super Mouse.
That’ll do it.
Another version had him becoming super by swallowing vitamins A through Z, and still another saw him drinking from an Atomic Energy jug, which infused him with strength. One more story asserted that he was left as an orphan on the doorstep of a mouse couple and no one really knew where his powers came from.
Whatever. I just wanted to be fantastically strong, fly, have x-ray vision, be good-looking and fight for truth and justice. What more could a seven-year old desire?
I did experiment with eating pills made of bologna, cheese and bread to see if it would make me super strong, but it didn’t work.
You know what, though? I have learned how to get strong, really strong. I’m not talking about physical strength because my powerful waistline is flopping outwards and my blazing speed has slowed over the years. It seems, as someone said, “The older I get the better I was.”
No, the exciting thing is that I’m learning to get strong in the Lord. Now, I won’t tell you all my secrets in one article (because you’d quit reading if it was too long), but an indispensable element in growing strong spiritually is reading the Word of God.
Daily is best.
Look at some of the benefits of using God’s Word to develop strength. (from Psalms 119, NIV)
11 I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you …
50 My comfort in my suffering is this: Your promise preserves my life.
52 I remember your ancient laws, O LORD, and I find comfort in them.
72 The law from your mouth is more precious to me than thousands of pieces of silver and gold.
89 Your word, O LORD, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens.
98 Your commands make me wiser than my enemies, for they are ever with me.
105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.
114 You are my refuge and my shield; I have put my hope in your word.
130 The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.
165 Great peace have they who love your law, and nothing can make them stumble.
So if you read God’s word regularly you can sing, “Here I come to save the day!” And like the narrator from the cartoons would say of Mighty Mouse, people will say of you, “What a mouse! What A mouse!” (www.cataroo.com)
Well, maybe not. But you will be strong in the Lord and His ways. That’s the best approach to life. What don’t you decide to start today and read God’s word regularly?
Hmmm …
“Don’t doubt in the dark what you’ve heard in the light.” unknown
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