A Tribute to Diligent Care
We heard of the departure of our beloved brother Dick; it was “absent from the body…present with the Lord.” Dick ploughed a deep furrow in his ministry with the gospel and in teaching the saints. Little wonder that the Spirit of God brought forth plentiful and enduring fruit for the glory of God from his ministry. He was indeed a lover of perfection, and left us many examples of his diligent care in this: his preaching and teaching, his beautiful lettering, and the innumerable Scripture texts he hand-painted to adorn many Gospel Halls and Christian homes, the excellent benches he designed and made for halls (as long as his back stood up to the heavy task).
We recall one of Dick’s messages in which he exhorted believers to strive for perfection in all their service for so worthy a Lord. He read the passage in the book of Exodus chapter 31, verses 1 to 11 describing the Spirit-filled capability of Bezaleel to produce each and every part of the tabernacle, from the least to the greatest, with the co-operation of wisdom-filled men. At this point he stopped dead and looked up at his audience, among which there were a lot of workmen, and asked, “Que tal maestro?” In other words, how does your work compare with this? Unwittingly he was setting forth his own standard of perfection. We look on to the happy reunion in glory with Dick and so many other dear loved ones.
