Passage to Ponder: Philippians 1:1-14
I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding. For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ’s return.”
-Philippians 1:9-10 (NLT)
Let me take you back to an experience I had as a little boy. My parents were dear friends of the Sheriff of Brazos County, Texas. J.W. Hamilton was an old school lawman and had been re-elected to his position for decades. He was loved by the citizens (law-abiding ones, anyway) and was respected by his peers. He also served as the president of the Texas Sheriff’s Association, composed of the sheriffs from Texas’ 254 counties. He was usually like Sheriff Andy Taylor from Mayberry, but could be the lawman you didn’t want to mess with, if you know what I mean. Picture in your mind a tall Texan in a cowboy hat and you’re on the right track. I always knew him as a gentle giant. I still remember the day I saw him become a grizzly bear.
So, how are you doing when it comes to keeping your life focused on what matters most? I don’t know all the reasons God is allowing this pandemic to radically alter our lives and threaten our health. But I do believe that it has been good in one sense: Christians are realizing what really matters--their faith, their families, their neighbors, and their churches. Have we taken these things for granted? Now we can’t go see our extended families. We can’t have close contact with our neighbors. We can’t attend our churches. If we knew we would soon not be able to do these things, I’m sure that most of us would have made that unscheduled trip to see family; we would have walked to our neighbors house just to visit; we would have made sure that we put in the effort to worship God with His people. When this pandemic is over will you still remember what really matters? Or, will learning the lesson be even more painful the next time?
Sheriff Hamilton owned a waterfront camp house on Chocolate Bayou off Galveston Bay, and we made some trips with him there for saltwater fishing. On one trip, I was riding with him as he drove his truck while my parents followed behind in their truck. As we were driving through the little town of Clute (home of the world-famous Mosquito Festival) there was some road construction with a young deputy sheriff from that county directing traffic. As Sheriff Hamilton eased by, the young deputy yelled at him, “Hurry up you old coot! You’re slowing traffic!” (I cleaned the language up considerably here in case you were wondering.) Traffic suddenly got a lot slower!
He parked his truck right in the middle of the highway and pulled his long frame out the cab. The young deputy turned white as a sheet as Sheriff Hamilton pulled his jacket back to reveal his sheriff’s badge and his holstered pistol. The young deputy’s boss was a good friend of the man he had just cussed out. Old J.W. made the young deputy get on the radio with his sheriff boss and explain what he had just done and why he shouldn’t be fired. Then the two sheriff buddies chatted a while on the radio about whether the deputy should keep his job. The conversation ended with Sheriff Hamilton urging that the deputy keep his job saying he had learned a lesson on the importance of good manners. We went down the road and traffic started moving again after about 20 minutes.
Now here is the point, the young deputy was full of himself and lost sight of the job he was supposed to do—keep people safe and serve the public. He forgot what really mattered most in his job. The result of his loss of focus caused him to almost lose his job. I’m sure that moment of humiliation was something he never forgot. I like to think that he went on to become a great law enforcement officer after his painful and embarrassing lesson.
Love,
Pastor Larry
Pastor Larry
(This is from a series of devotionals written during our time of restricted meetings and activities due to
the coronavirus.)
No comments:
Post a Comment