But someone who does not know, and then does something wrong, will be punished only lightly. When someone has been given much, much will be required in return; and when someone has been entrusted with much, even more will be required.
Luke 12:48 (NLT)
I did not see the arrow in the pavement until I backed out of my parking space, heading in the wrong direction. As I started turning the wheel to make a U-turn, a woman in a car that I had momentarily obstructed glared at me, then circled her ear with her index finger, suggesting I must be crazy. SNAP! I lost it. If she could have seen my gestures or heard my invectives, she would have known—at that moment—I was crazy!
The woman was not aware that I had just come from a medical test and was on my way to another. She couldn’t have known I had stopped at the post office to get directions because an uncooperative GPS had been sending me around in circles. She also was clueless about a plethora of small problems that had been growing larger.
Of course, I did not know what issues had caused her to react as she did. Nevertheless, at that moment, I just wanted to grab her by the neck and shake some kindness into her. My reaction was shamefully unchristian. As if bitten by the same serpent, Bonnie offered her critique of the woman’s gesture. I can only imagine what we would have looked like to an innocent bystander.
By the time we pulled alongside the woman at a stoplight, our anger had subsided and we prayed the woman would not notice our JC(heart)EWE license plate. As people who want to be an effective ambassador for Christ, we know that rudeness is not the way to win hearts for the Lord.
We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 2 Corinthians 5:20 (NIV)
The next morning, when I noticed a letter from the Internal Revenue Service in the scheduled deliveries, for an instant, I wondered if God had been watching the previous day’s shenanigans. Of course, the letter from the IRS was just information about the stimulus checks, but it served to remind me: “For those whom much is given much is required.”
Psalm 106:3 tells us, “Blessed are those who act justly, who always do what is right.”
Always do what is right? We need to work on that one. But we can be comforted by the truth: There is only one who always does what is right. Praise God, we are made right by His righteousness.
Brothers, listen! We are here to proclaim that through this man Jesus there is forgiveness for your sins. Everyone who believes in him is made right in God’s sight—something the law of Moses could never do. Acts 13:38-39 (NLT)
My watchwords while driving this week come from the book of Micah:
He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8 (NIV)
And let me add…, ”Even when you are having a bad day!”
Blessings,
Don & Bonnie Sennott
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