I went pheasant hunting in Iowa one time and we had a great time. Prior to taking to the fields and our first hunt, we decided to shoot some clay targets to warm up. One of my friends owned the farm and recounted a hilarious story about a guy that went hunting with them who was very arrogant. He could not say enough about how great a shot he was and on and on ad nauseam.
Unbeknownst to him they gave him some shotgun shells from which they’d removed the shot pellets, (blanks). When he stepped up to the line to shoot the skeet he of course did not hit a single one. He cursed and spewed on every miss and of course could never hit even one. They never did tell him what they did, and it seemed to go a long way towards taming his tongue and braggadocio.
I had a similar experience while marlin fishing in Costa Rica. We didn’t have enough anglers to rent the entire charter boat and one seat was left. The guide filled it with a little 17-year-old spoiled brat rich kid that was a pain to everyone. He was arrogant and overbearing and no doubt had been treated like royalty all his young life by overly indulgent parents who sadly were too busy being rich executives to find time to be real parents to him. His father did not even go on the trip with him and had sent him down there on his private plane alone.
As sad as his situation was, it wasn’t long until everyone on the boat had endured all we could stand of his smart bragging mouth and were greatly relieved when he stepped into the cabin to lie down for a little while.
While he napped, we decided to play a trick on him and rigged up an empty five-gallon bucket which was tied to the end of a large rod and reel equipped for big marlin. We let the bucket fill with water and let out several hundred yards of line and the bucket descended to about three hundred feet deep. When the captain pushed the throttle forward it made line scream off the reel just like a big marlin was on the line.
We excitedly woke the kid up shouting to him that there was a marlin on and he ran out of the cabin and jumped into the fighting chair with reel screaming off line. We watched him fight that bucket for the next hour, pumping and reeling in the hot sun. Every time he made a little headway the captain would throttle it up and the bucket would sink deeper into the sea simulating a monster fish with his rod doubling over and bouncing up and down. Finally, the captain slowed it down and the kid reeled in the bucket.
Amazingly the kid laughed at himself and was a good sport about it. The rest of the trip he acted like a completely different person, laughing and having a great time. When we got back to the dock we took some great photos of him, (and us), with his prize bucket.
I suppose no one likes to be around someone who is full of themselves and who has an ego as big as Texas. Isn’t it ironic that the one Person, Jesus Christ, who had every right to act arrogant, who stepped down from His throne in heaven and came to earth to humbly enter the world and be born in a manger in a barn. Though He was God incarnate He didn’t demand His own way; He worked as a carpenter and even got down on His hands and knees and washed the feet of His disciples to show them how they should serve.
Jesus is our Guide and we should emulate His humble demeanor. If you are fabulously wealthy, brilliant, beautiful, strong, excellent at everything you attempt, or tremendous at your profession, remember it all comes from above. Be thankful to the Lord, be humble and remember we are here to serve both God and others, not to be served. Failure to do so could result in your firing blanks or fighting buckets.
1 Peter 5:5
“God resists the proud,
But gives grace to the humble.”
Therefore humble yourselves
under the mighty hand of God, that
He may exalt you in due time.
Have a great weekend and go to church this Sunday!