HomeWord - June 17, 2010
Someone Ring Me Up!
This devotional was written by Leslie Snyder Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone. —Colossians 4: 5-6
Sometimes I'm a bonehead. If you don't believe me, consider the following.
My day was full. Preparing to leave on the family vacation led me to create a "to-do" list a mile long. Taking my three kids along with me, we were making headway by mid-morning, crossing items off the list with some sense of accomplishment. Then things changed. As the temperature rose outside, tempers rose and our patience began to run thin.
My kids grew weary of errands and we seemed to enter a time warp that culminated at the oil change shop. As I walked up to the counter, the young girl at the register met my glance. This didn't appear to be her best day either. After I asked for an oil change, she looked at a co-worker standing beside her. "She wants an oil change," she said. "I'm on break," replied the other worker with an air of irritation, "you ring her up." "Let Mike do it," she suggested. "He's been on break long enough."
It was all I could take. "I don't care who does it!" I blurted out. "Someone ring me up for an oil change!" Silence followed. People stared. My children's faces expressed pure shock. "We were just playing around," the girl said quietly and quickly went to work.
Yes, that day I acted like a bonehead. While I'm certainly not perfect, I could have handled the situation much better. I profess to follow Christ, teach and encourage others in the faith and then blew it on a routine day running errands with my kids. The passage in Colossians hit me right between the eyes and my guess is that there are times that it does the same to you because the truth is, sometimes we all act like boneheads. We speak in haste, hurt others' feelings, act before we think, and ultimately do damage to our reputation and to the reputation of Christ and the Church.
Proverbs 13:3 reminds us that "He who guards his lips guards his life, but he who speaks rashly will come to ruin." I learned a valuable lesson that day, one that perhaps you can learn with me.
GOING DEEPER:
How might you prepare yourself to act more wisely toward outsiders and to make the most of every opportunity that God gives you?
FURTHER READING:
Ephesians 4:29
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