Galatians 6:4-5
I hope you read the classic Tom Sawyer, because that’s what
came to my mind as I read these verses.
Tom lived with his aunt Polly and she had this white fence that seemed
to need white washed frequently.
Now Tom had friends that he would entice with one of his schemes to
carry that burden for him. About
the only time Tom did any self-examination was when Huck Finn and he got into a
lot of trouble.
Verse four might have been helpful for Tom; it is a guide to
examining self, to not only look at your actions, but the reason for such action;
to look inside at your thought life, not to try and justify our actions by
comparing or blaming someone other than yourself. Do you recall Jesus telling us not to judge others, and that
we often see a speck in our brothers eye but do not notice the log in our own
eye, that is what the apostle Paul is telling us, we are not to be eye
inspectors. Each of us would be
wise to listen and act on 2 Corinthians 13:5, “Examine
yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you – unless, of course, you fail the
test?”
As you read the adventures of Tom and Huck, your heart had
to go out to aunt Polly, she just wanted the best for Tom and she had
compassion for that poor son of the town drunk, Huckleberry Finn. Aunt Polly desires and goals was to
guide these two lost souls to becoming, to some degree, responsible for their
actions and in Tom’s case, to be responsible. Maybe if Tom would have not slept when the preacher was
giving this account of Job, “If it is true that I
have gone astray, my error remains my concern alone.” (Job
19:4) Tom’s life was not centered
on responsibility, he was about adventure and fun, but often aunt Polly had to
hold him accountable. God our
Father is not the push-over that aunt Polly was and Jesus spoke very clearly on
the subject of carrying our own load and that each of us would be held
accountable. “ I tell you, on the Day of Judgment people will give
account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be
justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” (Matthew
12:36-37)
From the Back Porch,
Bob Rice
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