#165 – A Leak in the Character

Yesterday on The Morning Meditation we looked at a very beautiful story of redemption. The Redemption of Ruth and today we are going to look at a very ugly story of treachery and murder as we study:

A LEAK IN THE CHARACTER

1 Kings 16:16 “Zimri hath conspired, and hath also slain the king.”

I am quoting from Joseph Parker’s message on this incident:

“There was once a king in Israel called Elah. He reigned over Israel in Tirzah two years. He had a servant called Zimri who was a captain of his chariots. Zimri was a born traitor. Treachery was in his very blood. In the case of Elah, Zimri had a marked advantage; for Elah was a drunken fool; he was in the habit of visiting the house of another of his servants, a steward called Arza, and there he had what drink he asked for; and he asked for a good deal, so much so that he was often drunk in his servant’s house, and on one of these occasions, Zimri went in and killed him, and reigned in his stead. These are the facts which we have to deal with. Are they very ancient, or are they happening round about us every day ? Is Elah dead ? Is Zimri clean gone for ever ? And is the house of the servant Arza closed, so that the master can drink no more with the steward?”

“Elah lives in every man who has great chances or opportunities in life, but allows them to slip away though one leak in the character. Elah was a king and the son of a king, so his openings in life were wide and splendid; but he loved strong drink, and through that leak in his character all that might have made him a man oozed away, and left him a king in nothing but the barren name. Strong drink will ruin any man. It is the supreme curse of England.”

“ I will speak a word to the young. I care not, young man, how many and how brilliant in life your chances are, if you drink wine in the morning, as many young men in London do, you are as good as damned already. You think not, but that only shows the infinite deceitfulness of the enemy. He tells you, ‘Nothing of the kind; this is parson's twaddle; take your wine when you want it, and let it alone when you don't care for it.’ There is suppressed mockery in that high challenge. There is no soundness of health in it. Every drink leaves you weaker. Every emptied glass is another link added to the strong chain thrown upon your limbs. You take sherry in the morning, and it brightens and lightens you for the day, you think. Let me tell you what it does. It exhilarates you; it takes you out of yourself for a while; but it takes away the sources of your will, it throws a cloud over your brain, it blunts your moral criticism, it hastens you along a road that dips easily but surely into hell. The young man who drinks in the morning may be saved, for I dare not set limits to the mercy of God, but how he is to be saved it is impossible for me to say. The devil has hold of both his hands, his feet are upon a slippery incline, and how he is to get back again, I cannot tell. God help him! God save him!”

“What is true of this leak in a man's character is true of every other. Take indecision for example, or idleness, or love of company, or devotion to pleasure. Give me a young man with a king for a father, a throne for an inheritance, a kingdom for a field to cultivate, and let him be idle, or undecided, or pleasure loving, and his doom is sealed. A great merchant once said to me of a certain man in his employment, ‘I would tomorrow give that man a thousand a year to begin with, if he could do one thing, and that is, hold his tongue, but he would no sooner get the appointment than he would go into an ale house, and tell the whole company everything I am doing.’ There is the leak in the character, and it means ruin! It is astounding what one leak will do. I remember lowering a brass valve put into some water apparatus which had been fitted by one of the most skillful of plumbers; but when all was done, there was a faint thread of water running; the valve was taken to pieces,