Have you ever experienced a time when you realized you were in
the wrong and it was going to be tough making things right? I recently read
this old story:
A vacuum cleaner salesman left the city to find customers in the country. He just knew that with his big-city sales pitch he could talk those “country bumpkins” into buying his modern electric vacuum cleaner. He knocked on the first door and an elderly lady opened it and invited him in. He quickly launched into his slick sales pitch, proclaiming how amazing his product was. He talked so fast that she had no chance to say a word.
Toward the end of his sales pitch, he spied a full ash tray on a nearby table. He picked it up and dumped the contents on the floor. His client was stunned! "Ma'am," he declared without missing a beat, "what this machine won't pick up, I'll LICK UP!" The elderly lady smiled and said, "Well Sonny, you'd better git started, 'cause out here we ain't got no ‘lectricity."
Sometimes making things right can be downright distasteful, can’t it?
Philippians 2:3 - "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves." When it comes to how we are to treat others, the Bible doesn't mince words. We need to model the humility of Christ. If we find ourselves needing to make things right with another person, we need to humbly do so.
We live in a time when "Look-out-for-number-1" has become the self-centered mantra for many people. Christians are to proclaim a very different message; we are to humbly serve others. This little story brought that point home to me:
A man dreamed he had been given the opportunity to see both heaven and hell. As he entered the room in hell, he was surprised to see an incredible banquet table with a mouthwatering dish of food in its center. Each seated person had a very long spoon at their place. The spoon was long enough for a person to dish out the food, but it was too long for the person to then put the food into his mouth. Consequently, they were all unable to eat and were shrieking with pains of hunger!
As the man entered the room in heaven, he was horrified to see the same scene. There was the incredible banquet table with a mouth-watering dish of food in its center, and long spoons at each place. Only in heaven, the man heard laughter and saw joy on their faces.
The difference? Those in heaven did not cry over their inability to feed themselves. They simply celebrated the privilege of feeding each other with their long spoons.
Wouldn’t you agree that humbly serving others is a sure way to have a taste of heaven on earth?
Elsie Shepherd
A vacuum cleaner salesman left the city to find customers in the country. He just knew that with his big-city sales pitch he could talk those “country bumpkins” into buying his modern electric vacuum cleaner. He knocked on the first door and an elderly lady opened it and invited him in. He quickly launched into his slick sales pitch, proclaiming how amazing his product was. He talked so fast that she had no chance to say a word.
Toward the end of his sales pitch, he spied a full ash tray on a nearby table. He picked it up and dumped the contents on the floor. His client was stunned! "Ma'am," he declared without missing a beat, "what this machine won't pick up, I'll LICK UP!" The elderly lady smiled and said, "Well Sonny, you'd better git started, 'cause out here we ain't got no ‘lectricity."
Sometimes making things right can be downright distasteful, can’t it?
Philippians 2:3 - "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves." When it comes to how we are to treat others, the Bible doesn't mince words. We need to model the humility of Christ. If we find ourselves needing to make things right with another person, we need to humbly do so.
We live in a time when "Look-out-for-number-1" has become the self-centered mantra for many people. Christians are to proclaim a very different message; we are to humbly serve others. This little story brought that point home to me:
A man dreamed he had been given the opportunity to see both heaven and hell. As he entered the room in hell, he was surprised to see an incredible banquet table with a mouthwatering dish of food in its center. Each seated person had a very long spoon at their place. The spoon was long enough for a person to dish out the food, but it was too long for the person to then put the food into his mouth. Consequently, they were all unable to eat and were shrieking with pains of hunger!
As the man entered the room in heaven, he was horrified to see the same scene. There was the incredible banquet table with a mouth-watering dish of food in its center, and long spoons at each place. Only in heaven, the man heard laughter and saw joy on their faces.
The difference? Those in heaven did not cry over their inability to feed themselves. They simply celebrated the privilege of feeding each other with their long spoons.
Wouldn’t you agree that humbly serving others is a sure way to have a taste of heaven on earth?
Elsie Shepherd
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