"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart,
and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
Matthew 11:28 (BSB).
Image courtesy of Microsoft Word
Feed My Sheep
There's a British cautionary folk song about a mischievous boy called Tim McGuire. He is the last kid you would want as a neighbour because he loved starting fires. But there is another story about a Glasgow kid who had the same temperament, and his mother was at her wits end.
So, to solve her son’s misbehaviour, she made an appointment at the local fire station in hope that the firemen would teach him a lesson. Perhaps he would see pictures of charred limbs and charred bodies destined for the morgue. But the day never went like that.
The firemen took him up for lunch of egg and chips, his favourite and he got ice cream and jelly to follow. Then it was a game of pool. Afterwards he got a shot of the descending poll and sitting on the fire engine driving seat. When the day was over, his mum came to collect him and as he waved goodbye he said to his mother, “They’re my pals.” He never played with fire again; I wonder why?
The lesson is clear, he worked out in his head that his friends, the firemen, could get hurt putting out the fires he would cause. It was the comforting presence of the kind firemen in his life that caused the transition.
Now I’ve been to some religious services in my day; some encouraging and some negative. And what I mean by that is the youth’s mother in the story was the Armageddon and fire and brimstone type, but the firemen befriended the boy.
When Jesus spoke to the lost, he never threatened them with eternal damnation. He encouraged. Think the woman at the well. Think Nicodemus. Think the evildoer on the cross. Think all the stories that began with “The Kingdom of the heavens…” Think the sermon on the mount. Look after people’s spirituality and all the rest will take care of itself.
For some thoughts on Hell and its meaning, see my post from December, 2024
The simple man believes every word | learn1
McCalmans " House Full" 1976 Tim McGuire
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I love this. I have been thinking lately how anyone wants others to come to them for relationship out of desire for them, not out of fear of what might happen if they don't enter the relationship. And God, who is Love Himself, desires that we come to Him because we want to participate in a loving relationship with Him, because we value Him as a loved one, and to experience His incredible love for us!
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That's a lovely thought, Hannah.