Daily Jewel

by Pastor Carnell, McAlester, OK

“Next!”
“Many are the victims she has brought down; her slain are a mighty throng.” – Proverbs 7:26

A mother heard the family cat yowl in pain. She knew where to look—she looked for her son, Mike.
"Stop pulling the cat's tail, Michael!" she chided.
"I'm not pulling his tail," the boy retorted. "I'm just standing on it. He's doing the pulling." He, of course, is no different than any of us when we want to blame someone or something else for our problems. It's the cat's fault. Or the government. Or the school. Or....
In her audio program "How Could You Do That?" (Harper Audio, 1996), Laura Schlessinger relates a story of a 40-year-old woman who was jogging along in a state park when she was attacked and killed by a mountain lion. Her family immediately filed suit against the state because of the state's "failure to manage the mountain lion population" and because it didn't "react to reports of cougar activity in the area by posting warning signs." Interestingly, her husband dropped the suit a little later. "Barbara and I have always taken responsibility for our own actions," he explained. "Barbara chose to run in the wild and, on a very long shot, she did not come back. This is not the fault of the state, and people should take responsibility for themselves."
It is rare that we hear a story like that! I find that most of the good parts of my life, as well as those which are not all that good, are a direct result of my own decisions! When I recognize that I am ultimately responsible for the great majority of what happens to me, I begin to look for solutions to solve my problems instead of targets to blame them on. I am happier and healthier. Taking responsibility is one more step in building a life that matters.
The reason why this matters is how easily so many fall—even those who of faith who believe themselves to be either invincible or beyond temptation. Like the woman in the story that even though she knew of the dangers that existed, “surely it won’t happen to me,” was her mindset and was unfortunately her last mindset. I know I have used this particular illustration before but it fits this situation to a tee: Once a spider built a beautiful web in an old house. He kept it clean and attractive so that flies would patronize it. The very minute he got a "customer" he would clean up on him so the other flies would not get suspicious.
Then, one day, this fairly intelligent fly came buzzing by the clean spider web. Old man spider called out, "Come and sit."
But the fairly intelligent fly said, "No, sir. I don't see any other flies in your house and I'm not going in alone!"
But, presently he saw on the floor below a large crowd of flies dancing around on a piece of brown paper. He was delighted! He was not afraid if lots of other flies were doing it. So he came in for a landing.
Just before he landed, a bee zoomed by and said to him, "Don't land there, stupid! That's fly paper...you'll get stuck and die!"
But the fairly intelligent fly shouted back, "Don't be silly! Those flies are dancing and having a good time. There's a big crowd there. Every-body's doing it. That many flies can't all be wrong!"
Well, you know what happened. He was caught! Some folks want so much to be with the crowd that they end up in a mess. What does it profit a fly if he escapes the web only to end up in the glue? Solomon’s advice—don’t be next on the list. Do not be like the young man who got caught in the web. Take responsibility for your life and most importantly, the part of your life that has eternity in it!

Pastor J. T. Carnell