Daily Jewel

by Pastor Carnell, McAlester, OK
Feb. 2, 2012

“Pushy, Pushy!!”
“Don’t try to be like those who shoulder their way through life. Why be a bully? ‘Why not?’ you say…because God can’t stand twisted souls. It’s the straightforward who get His respect..." – Proverbs 3:31, 32 (The Message)

Once in a while, eternal truths can be gained from the simplest places...cartoons. There is one cartoon whose characters do not carry guns or fight evil villains and is widely loved by the youngest and oldest...Winnie the Pooh.
In one episode, Eeor, the melancholy donkey, developed a real problem. His friends, seeing he was spending so much time sitting alone on the hilltop decided he was sad and needed cheering up. Ignoring his protests to the contrary, Winnie the Pooh, Piglet, Rabbit and Christopher Robin went to elaborate lengths to liven up Eeor's life. One crammed him full of honey and apples. Another tried to teach him to fly. One by one, each of his friends only made his life more miserable as they tried to fill it with 'fun.'
After all their attempts had failed, the poor donkey is seen once again sitting alone on the hilltop, contemplating the clouds. Only then do his friends discover his secret. He's not sitting alone because he's sad--on the contrary, he's discovered the secret of real happiness. As his friends look at the clouds with new eyes, they see what Eeor had been seeing all along--a wonderland of beauty and delight almost too fantastic to be believed.
It seems that at times we all have Eeor's problem to one extent or another. We're surrounded by a culture that tells us repeatedly that we must pack all the excitement, adventure, comfort, fame, fortune-in short, FUN into our lives that we can. The world really believes that this life is all there is. Rewards or punishments in the next life don't exist, or don't matter. If this life is all you've got, then you'd better pack as much into it as you can. This is what the preacher of Ecclesiastes called, "...striving after the wind." He calls it emptiness, futility.
We’ve been talking in the last couple of days what it means to be a “neighbor” and how we so often forget that we are truly connected to one another in ways that go beyond our physical vision and even our belief system. We think people will automatically see things our way and will automatically do things our way. Who is to say our way is automatically the best way?
I am certainly not saying that we should hold back our understanding of the Gospel or our Christian beliefs—but we all process things differently and God works with all of us in different ways.
To see what others can't seem to see—the glory of God in this created world is worth everything. The glory of God working in redeemed changed lives.
Pastor J. T. Carnell