November 11, 2019 – Click here to listen
When I was a youngster my brother and I had a Spanish class together. I was a freshman in high school and already wild as a stallion who thought rules were made to be broken and I was always trying to get attention the wrong way. I was reviled by teachers as a trouble-maker and my brother Jim was just the opposite he was always the teacher’s pet. One day each student had to get up in front of the class and give a speech in Spanish. Jim sat on the front row and I sat as far back in the room on the back row as I could get. We had small translation booths to sit in, I suppose they muffled the sound as we practiced Spanish while listening on headsets.
Now the teacher was all of five fee nothing tall and could not see over the booths. Ping! I had an idea. Jim sat up front, so he gave his speech first. When he began his speech, I crawled from the back of the room under the booths all of the way to the front of the class. My fellow students were snickering and giggling as I made my way by them. When I got to my brother, he was jabbering away in Spanish and I started pulling on his pants leg and when he looked down I grinned and made an obscene hand gesture. He laughed and lost his train of thought and just then the teacher ran from her desk to stand behind him and she saw me.
By now the entire class was roaring with laughter, everyone that is but the little teacher. She was livid and promptly took me to the principal’s office where I received a paddling to remember. She disliked me from that moment on and even though I made the highest grade in the entire class on the exam, she gave me an “F.” My brother of course got an “A.”
I thought that was a grave injustice and I was bitter about it. Clearly I knew the material better than anyone in the classroom, but I failed the class just the same. My lack of respect for figures of authority just intensified and I had trouble with nearly every teacher I had. Of course, I didn’t look at it at all from their viewpoint and only considered my desire to show off.
This incident reminds me of those who know the difference from right and wrong but willfully do the wrong things. I have several friends and acquaintances that are in this boat. They all but thumb their noses at God and just go about their lives with reckless abandon. Their boat has a big leak in it and will eventually sink, but they seem oblivious to consequences that will happen sometime in the future. Catering to the world and seeking its favor above seeking God and His favor is a deadly trap leading to destruction. Better to play by the rules and obey God’s commands and forego the applause of the world.
Gal. 6:7
Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.