Shade Tree Wisdom 7/17/08

Pleasant this morning, with a slight breeze to make it fine. Otherwise, understand, we are in July, and along the Gulf Coast that means hot & humid.

I really don’t know just how to say this at all, but it does give us a real insight on just how subtle the devil works among us.

When St. Peter said it, it does sound kind of strange. He wrote, “Keep a cool head. Stay alert. The Devil is poised to pounce, and would like nothing better than to catch you napping.” 2 Peter 5,8. (msg). And Peter writes out of bitter personal experience, because he had boasted to Jesus Himself, “Even if they all run, I won’t. I’ll stand. You can count on me”. Then he fell, sadly, as predicted, and repented with tears.

Here is the story. They are all 17, incoming seniors at The Woodlands College park High School. All have jobs, several are honor students, one even is on the student council. And in the middle of the night they chopped down a tree in the yard of an off duty Montgomery County Deputy Constable. The tree was large enough that it took several deputies to cut it into sections to be able to clear the roadway.

The reaction of the parents was the same as yours would be if it had been your son. “I don’t know what they were thinking." One mother is quoted as saying, “my son said they were bored”. The consensus of the parents was “We are really upset. None of them have been in trouble before. They all have jobs. They’re all good kids”.

Exactly how I would react if this had been in our family. And so would you. Embarrassing, kind of humbling, but defensive just the same.

The lesson here is what Peter said, The devil is at work today, and among us. In Paul’s letter to the Philippians he speaks about the Christian in his world. It is really a happy letter, even though written from jail. Paul says that sticking him into jail had the opposite effect of what was intended, and everyone was hearing about Jesus. Then he turns to their life-style and says it ought to be like a shining beacon in this weary world. 15 Go out into the world uncorrupted, a breath of fresh air in this squalid and polluted society. Provide people with a glimpse of good living and of the living God. Carry the light-giving Message into the night 16 so I'll have good cause to be proud of you on the day that Christ returns. You'll be living proof that I didn't go to all this work for nothing. “Phil 2,15.16.(msg).

Ah, here’s the goal for us, isn’t it? To live like a breath of fresh air in this squalid and polluted society, giving people a glimpse of the living God. To carry the light-giving message into the night. I pray the Lord will help us do exactly that, and live “as unto Him” in this world we live in.

GPD 7/17/08