Looks Better Going Than Coming
I've heard preachers say about troublemaking church members that they look better going than they do coming, and then brag about the "backdoor revival" that they had. The Bible says, "Woe to the shepherds that scatter the flock!" I think our attitude should be that of trying to help people, and if they refuse us, it ought to break our heart to see them leave. According to this portion of Proverbs, there are four things that look better going than they do coming.
The Lion looks better going than he does coming. Just ask the gentleman Amos used for an illustration in 5:18-20. No doubt after running from the lion he was wom out and exhausted. The devil, "as a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour". The king of beasts turns not away for any. I always like to see him go. Jesus saw him leave in Matthew 4:1 1. We are going to see him go for the last time in Rev. 20:10.
The greyhound also looks better going than coming. Somebody said a greyhound looks better going than coming especially if your mother-inlaw is on board! Some of the super-duper silly looking, Nashville-styled Southern Gospel Quartets look good pulling out in their greyhounds too! Nearly every region of the nation is in some form of legislative battle concerning gambling. In many instances the door is opened for greyhound racing. God's people ought to fight against this increasingly popular pastime plaguing our states.
One of the things God's Word says which looks better going than coming is a he goat. We had a pet goat name Mordecai and he was the best "watch dog7' we ever had. He ran loose in our yard and played well with the puppy. Our house is way out in the country and visitors are few but when the UPS man had a delivery, he stayed in his truck and honked! He was one of the many who believed the scriptures are true at least here in this passage!
The last of the four things the Bible says look better going than coming is a king against whom there is no rising up; or in other words, a ruler or elected official that seems to get by with just about anything. When the Honorable George W. Bush takes the oath of office and becomes our next President, I will be one of those rejoicing in hope. The former occupant of the Oval Office and resident of the White House, Bill Clinton, will have left a legacy of liberalism, loose-living and a long list of lies unmatched by any of his predecessors, yet there is an unbelievable push to clear him of any of the guilt, shame, reproach, and responsibility for the actions he initiated. It seems that every time during the past eight years that Mr. Clinton messed up he got away with it. There was no rising up against him. There were no successful measures to remove him from office. On Inauguration Day, 2001, when the "Presidential U-haul" headed for New York State, I say with Scriptural authority, "He looked better going than he did coming."
Evangelist David Handley
1st Mt. Pleasant Baptist Cburcb, Franklin, IN.