"All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ anything beyond this comes from the evil one" - Mathew 5:37 (NIV).
A certain family was excited to have a new parish priest at their church. After a service they walked up and asked him for dinner. The priest immediately confirmed. However, later he realised that he had another engagement that very day and of course couldn't be in two places at the same time. He did not call back to cancel the appointment.
The family though called back for confirmation of his availability. The priest's response was non committal with a "Yes I hope to make it!" The family went ahead rather encouraged. They bought groceries and prepared a sumptuous dish. Come the day and time the priest was nowhere to be seen. Eventually they called up the priest and asked if he was coming. Still his response was vague, "Not sure, I am still caught up!"
Meanwhile, the food was getting cold. Quite disappointed the family finally sat down quietly to dinner. "This new priest cant be treated!" the Chair of the Deacon's Board noted.
A simple "No" would have saved the priest from this severe judgment from a senior member of his church, especially once it occurred to him he was conflicted. The priest's might not necessarily be an unreliable man but he has a problem of not being straight forward in his relation.
After that word went around that one had to read around and in between whatever he said. By failing to be straight forward in simple things such as saying "No" for an appointment he knew he couldn't make, the priest had damaged his relation, affecting his work. From there on he had to struggle being taken seriously. It was rumoured he had a tendency to exaggerate, including in his sermons, always stretching facts. Hence to relate with him one has to act with caution. Needless to say he didn't prosper in his new work place!
Prayer for today: Lord Father God of Abraham, maker of heaven and earth, today I pray that you help me be straight forward in my relationships for the glory of your name, this I pray in Jesus's name.
Related upcoming events
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19/04/2024 - 20/04/2024 All day“See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland” ( Isaiah 43:19).
Just before fire was unleashed down on Sodom and Gommorah, Lot was told to pack up with his wife and two daughters and leave their homestead. Now, once out of danger, “But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt” ( Gen 19:26). Perhaps here we might pause and ask why she was bothered to look back.
Of course it could have been that old “curiosity killed a cat” mistake! Yet, it could also have been Lot’s wife was not sure where she was going and longed for her old life back. This is a common error. There was nothing stirring to look back. Just before Lot’s neighbors had attacked his house eager to rape his visitors. “They called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them” ( vv 5). Was there anything worth looking back to!
The case of Lot’s wife could be anyone else’s experience. The Lord has plucked you out of some mess. You have been delivered to a new life. Yet, somehow you decide to look back, as though there was anything good and worth longing for. Sometimes it is a bitter past you have been delivered from. Other than rejoice in your new blessings you keep being drawn back!
A wise caution goes, “As a dog returns to its vomit, so fools repeat their folly” ( Proverbs 26:11). If the Lord has just led you out of a certain mess why look back like it was much better! Instead look ahead, for “he who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters, who drew out the chariots and horses, the army and reinforcements together, and they lay there, never to rise again, extinguished, snuffed out like a wick: Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past” ( vv 17- 18).
Prayer today: Lord Father God of Abraham, maker of heaven and earth, I thank you for delivering me from the darkness of the past and I look forward to a bright new future in you, this I pray in Jesus’ name!
