Not a One-Size-Fits-All Sort of Deal

Story of the Day for Wednesday January 13, 2016

Not a One-Size-Fits-All Sort of Deal

http://www.practicallyintuitive.com/does-one-size-fit-your-all/

One person judges a day more special than others; another person considers each day no different than the other. Each one should be convinced in his own mind.

Romans 14:5

I have a message that will be fascinating to some of you, and meaningless to others, but I need your help.

Pick a number between 1 and 10, (and don’t tell me what it is.)

Multiply your number by 9.

If your new number has two digits, add the two digits together.

Take your new number and subtract 5.

Now, we want your number to correspond to a letter of the alphabet. So, A = 1, B = 2, C= 3, and so on. Convert your number into a letter.

Think of a country in Europe that begins with your letter.

Whatever your letter is, select the next letter in the alphabet, and think of an animal, let’s say, from Africa.

As we attempt to live out our faith, one of the biggest temptations we face is thinking that everyone should be like we are.

Have you ever heard the story of the two pack mules? The first mule carried a heavy load of salt. In the heat of the day, he decided to cool off, and waded into a pond. All the salt dissolved, and he walked up on shore with a greatly lightened load.

Excitedly he told another mule about it. “You’ve got to wade into this pool. You walk in with your heavy load, and when you come out, the weight is gone!”

The other mule replied, “But why should I wade into the pool to lighten my load? My load isn’t heavy to begin with.”

The first pack mule, however, urged the second one to try it. The mule waded into the pool . . . and drowned. He was carrying a load of sponges.

Christian living is not a one-size-fits-all sort of deal.

The truths of God on things like prayer and worship do not change. They’re just true. But each one of us can express our faith in strikingly different ways. The notion that what’s good for me may not be good for you, grates against my religious sensibilities. But the fact remains that the Lord leads people in different ways.

Some believers in the early church thought the “brethren” who ate meat were compromisers. Didn’t they know that meat is dedicated to pagan gods? Not to be outdone, the meat-eaters scoffed at the vegetarians for not seeing the higher truth that all food belongs to the true God.

God leads us in different ways. If you’re still finding this notion hard to accept, sit down with the 14th chapter of Romans, and wrestle with it for a while.

Oh, and before I forget, the message that is meaningful to some of you and not to others is this: “There are no elephants in Denmark.”

(copyright 2012 by climbinghigher.org and by Marty Kaarre)

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