“You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.” It’s one of those universal truisms that everyone knows. Everyone knows the line, and everyone knows what it means. It’s actually an idiom (your $3 word for the day), and like most recipes, some people substitute sugar for the honey, but the point is the same. It’s the same concept as in the old Aesop fable about the bet between the North Wind and the Sun. The quick version of the story is this:
The North Wind and the Sun are talking about strength. The Sun says that gentleness is more powerful than shear strength. So the Sun proposes a contest. There’s a man walking below on a winding mountain road. The Sun says, “see that man there, whichever of us can get his coat off of him is the winner.” So the North Wind says, “I can blow his coat off of him!” So the cold North Wind blew and blew. He blew the leaves off of the trees, birds off of their nests, and blew up so much dust that the man could hardly see where he was walking. But the harder the North Wind blew, the tighter the man drew his coat around him. And so the Sun took his turn. He slowly came out from behind a cloud, and began warming the afternoon air. The man let go of the tight grip he’d had on his coat. The sun started shining a little brighter and soon the afternoon became very warm, and the man sat down under a tree to rest and took off his coat and sat it on the ground beside him.
So now you’re thinking “yeah, that’s great, but what does this have to do with a church devotional?” Well, I’m glad you asked. When Jesus called people to Him, how did He do it? Did he stand there wagging his finger in their faces listing sin after sin after sin that they were committing, and then telling them that the only way to get right it through Him? Nope. He showed the love and forgiveness that only He had to offer and people ran to Him in flocks. He didn’t beat them over the head with their mistakes and insult them for just not getting it. He didn’t yell and accuse and blow the leaves off the trees and the birds off of the branches expecting them to give up sin and turn to holiness. He showed them what holiness looked like. He showed them what Godly love looked like, and they willingly walked away from their sin and chose to walk to Him.
Listen for the Whisper that asks you that if Jesus handled it that way, why shouldn’t we? Because there was one group of people that Jesus got sideways with. There was certainly one group of people that He had no trouble at all calling hypocrites, and vipers, and ohh…what was that phrase…oh yeah! “Sons of Hell” (Matthew 23:15). And who was that? Oh, just the self-righteous Pharisees and Jewish teachers that thought that they had it allll figured out. And ran around pointing fingers, accusing and patting themselves on the back for knowing God and all about what He wanted. They acted like they were better than everyone else and instead of offering the sweetness of Jesus and the love He had for them, they offered condemnation and a “holier than thou” attitude to anyone to anyone close enough to hear.
Which group are you in? Are one of the ones that shows how great Jesus is if you get to know Him. Let the “Son shine” so they take off their own coats. Or are you a North Wind “blow hard” that points out all of the sin in someone else’s life, telling them just how wrong they are in everything they do, and then expect them to simply look at you and say, “wow, you’re right!” As for me, I’m pretty sure I’m no position to act like I’m holier than anyone…”for all have sinned and fallen short” – and like The Animals said in “House of the Rising Sun” – “and, God, I know I’m one!” Show them Jesus, and they’ll come running to Him all on their own. They always have.
~Dwayne
No comments:
Post a Comment