We were at church one Wednesday evening. Before service started our Pastor walked to the fellowship hall to speak with a group of young people that were eating. He told them that it was perfectly fine that they were eating here. He asked that they please clean up behind themselves, because there were a lot of crumbs left by someone at the previous service. My 5 year old Isaac who was standing nearby pops his hand in the air and says, “That was me.” They all had a good laugh out of it.
Many times when a Pastor gets up to deliver a message to a congregation, he may call out some things. These things will often bring up the opportunity to self evaluate. Unfortunately, too many times the very person that needs to do this is looking across the church (maybe not physically, but mentally) and thinking, “I hope they’re listening.” Putting the very thing they are guilty of on someone else. Why, because it’s often hard to see our own faults or at least admit them. Shouldn’t we rather be like Isaac in the story above? The thing that makes that story more interesting is, it wasn’t Isaac’s mess. I know because I cleaned up after him. He though didn’t know that and readily admitted to the action. We should listen to the Word of God being delivered and be quick to self apply what we hear. Because the word coming forth might just be for us.
James 1:23-25 KJV 23 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: 24 For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. 25 But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.