Christian Reflection and Prayer

One Sunday morning, the pastor noticed little Alex
standing in the foyer of the church staring up at
a large plaque. It  was covered with names and
small American flags mounted on either side of
it.The six-year old had been staring at the plaque
for some time, so the pastor walked up, stood
beside the little boy, and said quietly, 'Good
morning Alex.''Good morning Pastor,' he replied,
still focused on the plaque. 'Pastor, what is
this? 'The pastor said, 'Well son, it's a memorial
to all the young men and women who died in the
service.'
Soberly, they just stood together, staring at the
large plaque. Finally, little Alex's voice, barely
audible and trembling with fear asked,

'Which service, the 8:15 or the 10:30?'

A lady had been baptized. One of her
co-workers asked her what it was like
to be a Christian. She was caught off
guard and didn’t know how to answer
but she saw a jack-o’-lantern on her
desk and answered: “It’s like being a
pumpkin.”

“What do you mean by that?” the other
worker asked.

“Well, God picks you from the patch
and brings you in and washes off all
the dirt on the outside that you got from
being around all the other pumpkins,
Then he cuts off the top and takes all
the yucky stuff out from inside. He
removes all the seeds of doubt, hate,
greed, etc. Then he carves you a new
smiling face and puts his light inside
of you to shine for all to see. It is our
choice to either stay outside and rot
on the vine or come inside and be
something new and bright.”

written by Liz Curtis Higgs and
"Pumpkin Patch Parable.")

BE SOMETHING NEW AND BRIGHT

Scripture:

Luke 6:41 (New International Version)

41"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust
in your brother's eye and pay no attention to
the plank in your own eye?


from Our Daily Bread

It was just a speck, a tiny foreign object
flying through the air on a windy day while
I was cutting the grass. Somehow that speck
made its way into my left eye.

For the next few hours that little speck caused
quite a bit of irritation. I tried washing it out. My
wife, Sue, a nurse, tried everything she could
think of. Finally, we went to a Med Center, where
the medical personnel on duty couldn’t get it out
either. Only after applying some ointment and
waiting several more annoying hours did I get
relief from the speck.

This tiny, nagging irritant made me think anew
about Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 7 about criticizing
others. My first thought was to be impressed with
the practicality of Jesus’ illustration. Using the
effective literary tool of hyperbole, or exaggeration,
He explained for His listeners how foolish it is for
a person to criticize someone without seeing that
he or she is also guilty of error. If you can find
someone else’s little speck while ignoring the hunk
of wood in your own eye, something’s wrong. It
should be unthinkable to ignore our own faults while
pointing out someone else’s.

An attitude of self-righteousness has no place in the
Christian life  THAT SHOULD BE PLAIN TO SEE!

Prayer:
Lord, help me not to get caught up in pointing
out the “little” sins in others’ lives, while ignoring
my own glaring sin. I’m thankful that with repentance
comes forgiveness. In Jesus Name Amen.

INSPECT YOUR OWN LIFE BEFORE YOU LOOK
FOR SPECKS IN OTHERS.