Watchword
(1 Kings 22.24-40; Matthew 5.17-26)
My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me. Psalm 63.8
Moved with pity, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched the leper and said, “I do choose. Be made clean!” Mark 1.41
Proverbs 26:17Whoever meddles in a quarrel not his own
Is like one who takes a passing dog by its ears.
This proverb says, ‘Keep your head down and live quietly.’ Don’t play the hero.
Can we connect this saying with the previous ones on laziness? If so, the sluggard escapes his duties by weaseling into other people’s arguments! We’ve all known the person who comes around only when controversy arises. For this slacker, anything apart from a brouhaha is too tedious to be endured.
Now we have to hear this proverb under the law of Christ. It is our task to single-mindedly interest ourselves in one another. And occasionally this interest will take the form of something like “meddling.” We might find ourselves immersed in problems of a fellow believer, grasping a spare oar and rowing alongside to extricate him from a bad turn.
We might even have to inform him that he’s in a tricky spot and needs help.
Here’s how our proverb helps us: Help other people CAUTIOUSLY. Be RELUCTANT to take up their problems as your own burden - don’t enjoy it. And get out of that dependent relationship ASAP.
But the law of Christ says: If necessary: BEAR ONE ANOTHER’S BURDENS. You have to. Do it quietly, unsentimentally, and with all thought to solving the problem and getting back to your own business as soon as possible.
Don’t let the business of Christianity become busybody-ness. That dog will bite you!
Bible Reading: Romans 11: 11,12
God works through the trespass and failure of the Jews to bring salvation to the Gentiles. As the Jews rejected the Messiah and handed Him over to be crucified, the way was being up for all peoples to come near to God.
Again this is a historical fact that will presumably not be duplicated. But it is worthwhile to remember that God makes even the wickedness of men to accomplish His means. Don’t be afraid of institutionalized and structural sins. Deal quickly and severely with your sin and preach forgiveness of sins to persons. And then relax: Jesus is upholding all things by the word of His power.
Post a Comment