I was out shopping with my family at a local crafts store. There on one shelf, prominently displayed, was a pig clock. The pig was metal rust and an eight inch clock in the middle. The pig was 2 feet long and about a foot and a quarter high. The tail curled nicely and the pig looked quite happy and content though there were no eyes. Then I saw the sign: "50% OFF"! NOW I had to have the pig. The first opposition was "you don't need the pig clock." Well, it wasn't about need. The second objection was "it costs more than you can afford." That was not true but carried the reasoning of spending what you have in a realistic manner. The third objection was "where on earth are you going to put it if you get it?" I live in a house with a lot of walls so I told them "anywhere I please." Now the issue wasn't about the pig. It was about what others thought was good for me, appropriate for me, and wouldn't clash with anything other people had to look at. Not to mention the money issue. Reluctantly I acquiesced and began to walk away with the unspoken thought "I can come back later alone and get the pig!" Victory delayed. Then one relative said, "I'll get you the pig as a gift for Father's Day. YES! The battle was ended but the war still waged. I got the pig on the appointed day, put a battery inside and placed it strategically on a wall fully visible to anyone who entered there. I love that pig!
What would have been the response if I had found an especially nice Cross or a picture of Jesus? Would these family and friends react the same way? What would have been the response by me? I made a frame from old fence wood and attached an American flag trimmed with the same old fence wood. Some didn't like it so I put it up anyway. I bought 8 inch tall letters that spelled "MESSHALL" and put them up over the entryway to the kitchen. Some didn't like it so I put them up anyway. I leave my Bible on my side table beside my recliner from which I write this blog. I don't care what people think or feel about the presence of my Bible. I talk to others about Jesus and what he has done for me. Some people don't like it but I do it anyway. I teach my children about topics the schools and society have failed to mention like thermo nuclear and biological warfare. Some people don't like it. I tell them, "If I don't tell them no one will." I do the same thing with taxes, romance and a myriad of other subject. Some people thing I go to far or are teaching my children and others things that might offend others. I don't care if it's offensive to others. The same goes with my need to tell others about Jesus. I don't care if it's offensive because Jesus didn't care if his message was offensive. Jesus loves my pig.
I recently answered a Craigslist ad to pick up some big men's clothing and shoes. When I got there I had much to pick up. When I went home with it others were appalled with the pile. Those at the downtown mission weren't appalled at all. They were looking at these items as "new" to them who had none. All of what we do and don't do impact the world around us. That impact is negative or positive and nothing in between. There are consequences to what we do and do not say that are positive and negative. We choose what we do and do not think, say and do. We often (all to often) let peer pressure, political correctness and fear interfere with choosing that which Jesus would think, say and do. It's our choice. It's always been our choice and it will always be our choice. Do we choose Jesus or do we choose the way of the world. Make the right choice.
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