Just for fun, every now and then I will go to our well-known “Sam’s Italian Deli” and I will purchase three loaves of their sourdough baguettes. Everyone is invited to get a raffle ticket and put it in our jar and then after church we will draw out three random winners. A lot of folks who would normally just head home after worship will stick around with the prospect of taking home one of these awesome loaves of bread. Last Sunday I had one of our young men draw the winning tickets out of the jar and then hand it to me and I would read off the winning numbers. He drew the first ticket and I read the numbers and I heard a scream of delight...and my own daughter came running up with the winning ticket. I made a little joke about her winning and moved quickly to get that next ticket out. My young friend reached into the jar and pulled out ticket number two. I read the numbers...and the winner was...the brother of the young man who had drawn the ticket! That’s when the good natured (I hope!) booing started! Thankfully, the third winner was not related to either one of us doing the drawing! It was all in good fun and I can’t even imagine how we could have staged having our family members win. But I thought about it later. The Bible tells us to not only stay away from every kind of evil, but to even stay away from any appearance of evil. This is a tricky thing because we don’t want to be the slaves of other’s opinions. But then, we can do some things that can appear kind of dicey and especially for those who
are new to the faith, they can become stumbling blocks. So for the sake of others, not yourself, watch what you are doing, be careful where you are going and by all means, watch what you are saying. Don’t let things that are innocent dull the impact of your life and words for this Jesus of the Bible. And do consider what others, who may not be as strong as you, will feel in situations that can be interpreted wrongly. Satan will take any careless living or speaking and find people who will only be able to see it in a negative light. Help to keep those folks from tripping over even innocent appearances. Love the folks around you...and remember that Love is Action!
Here’s our Bible verse for today...
1 Thessalonians 5:21-23 MKJV Prove all things, hold fast to the good. (22) Abstain from every appearance of evil. (23) And may the God of peace Himself sanctify you, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blamelessly at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Remember I’m praying for you!
With love, PJ
are new to the faith, they can become stumbling blocks. So for the sake of others, not yourself, watch what you are doing, be careful where you are going and by all means, watch what you are saying. Don’t let things that are innocent dull the impact of your life and words for this Jesus of the Bible. And do consider what others, who may not be as strong as you, will feel in situations that can be interpreted wrongly. Satan will take any careless living or speaking and find people who will only be able to see it in a negative light. Help to keep those folks from tripping over even innocent appearances. Love the folks around you...and remember that Love is Action!
Here’s our Bible verse for today...
1 Thessalonians 5:21-23 MKJV Prove all things, hold fast to the good. (22) Abstain from every appearance of evil. (23) And may the God of peace Himself sanctify you, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blamelessly at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Remember I’m praying for you!
With love, PJ