Things Change

They were called public drinking fountains or, more precisely, sanitary fountains.

I ran across one of them, saved for public display, while walking in Columbus, GA, recently. This one had three small bowls. One ground level, one about knee high, and the third about three feet off the ground. They were very popular in more upscale health-conscious cities in the late 1800’s to the early-mid 1900’s. Forged from iron, the bottom bowl was for dogs to drink out of, the middle for horses, and the top one for humans. While in today’s climate, it may be hard to imagine. Still, they were considered highly sanitary for their day, A vast improvement over most stagnant water before most houses or public buildings had running water and long before bottled water was a concept. Public water access was considered a civic responsibility. But the day of the “sanitary fountain” passed as germ theory progressed. 

It is similar to your thesaurus. When I first started preaching one sat on my desk with my dictionary and Strong’s Concordance. Then a computer with an online dictionary/thesaurus took its place, then AskJeeves, then Google, and now ChatGPT is the tool I use. 

Things change. 

But not everything

Brother, your role. A man with the Bible in his words and the love of God beaming from his presence. A preacher with a word from the Lord. That doesn’t change. It won’t. Styles, approaches, and even modes may vary. But preaching truth won’t. We love to say, "Don’t quit." But today we want you to know: God won’t erase your role! The preacher preaching the Word is here to stay. It’s been that way in tens of thousands of places for roughly 2,000 years, and if the Lord doesn’t return, it will be that way 10,000 years from now. Praise God, the role you play doesn’t quit. We hope you won’t either!

“I charge you…preach the Word…” (2 Timothy 4).