5 Smooth Stones

have waited just a li tt le longer, Samuel would have accomplished what he had come to do, and Saul would have received blessings rather than. In contrast, the Saul of the New Testament called himself “A Hebrew of the Hebrews” (Philippians 3:5) a Pharisee, a master of the Law of Moses. He was extremely well educated in the scriptures. He was blameless in his understanding of the Law. He was zealous toward God (Acts 22:3). Yet in spite of his quali fi cations in doctrinal teaching and understanding, he still could not put it into proper application and was guilty of his own sins due to an imbalance of application and doctrine. He persecuted the church and even was a witness to and assisted in the murder of Stephen, recorded in Acts 7. His doctrine was impeccable, but his application was an a ff ront to God. It is so important for all of us to walk a balanced and worthy walk before the Lord. Ministers have an even greater responsibility to walk in balance because our in fl uence is so great and our judgment will be stricter. Jesus was the ultimate example of balance in understanding and application. Yet not one of us can hope to a tt ain perfect balance in our life separate from others. It is together that we have the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16) and in this we can take heart. There is a great example of balancing extremes in the presidency and cabinet of George Washington. As the fi rst president of the United States of America, George Washington was painfully aware that each move he made in this new o ffi ce was se tt ing precedent for all who would follow into the o ffi ce of the President of the United States. He was very conscious of the fact that he was treading on new ground, no one in history having been in the position in which he then found himself. He had as cabinet members the famous duo of Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Je ff erson. These two men were at political extremes from one another, almost poles apart. While Je ff erson was a visionary and almost evangelistic in his beliefs and zeal for resting most of the power in the hands of the citizens, Hamilton was, on the other hand, much more suspect of the citizenry. He felt the need for centralized control in order to facilitate harmony within the new nation. However, due to his desire for security for the people of the nation, he was able to institute a national banking system including a mint, which made it economically possible for the nation to survive. Hamilton’s quest for order was seen as too controlling to Je ff erson who listed liberty as the greatest essential. However, what Je ff erson saw as liberty was seen as licentious and quite dangerous to Hamilton. Taken as two individuals these men represented doctrinal extremes. Without the balance brought in by 44