James 4:17

"So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin."

Last night we got a beautiful snow.  It's probably not so beautiful today for those with a morning commute.  It was a heavy, wet snow so the roads are a slushy-gushy mess.  But these heavy, wet snows stick to stuff...like trees...and when they sparkle in the sun they look like diamonds!

Heavy, wet, snow sticks to street signs, too.  It was a stop sign that lead me to look up scripture when I got home from taking the kids to school.

Wait...

A snow-covered stop sign lead me to scripture?

Yep.  That's sort of how things work with me.  It's the every day, ordinary stuff that gets me to thinking about stuff.

The stop sign looked like this:

Looks like stop sign.  But the message of "STOP" is covered up by wet sticky snow.

I KNOW this is a stop sign.  I KNOW I'm supposed to stop.  I KNOW because it's the rules of driving.  Just because the message is covered up doesn't mean I can ignore it.  I doubt that should I have decided to proceed through this stop sign without stopping and got pulled over by a police office that he...or she...would cut me much slack if I said, "Well...you see officer...the words on the sign were covered with snow so how was I to know I should stop?"

I don't think the police office would appreciate a comment like that...and they darn well shouldn't!  I'd probably get slapped with a whole lot more than a ticket!  It's not acceptable because I KNOW the right thing to do...whether the message on the sign is covered up or not.

So then I got to thinking about this a little more.  It's a little like this in life, too.  Okay...it's a LOT like this in life.   We know the right thing to do.  We know, for example, to treat others the way we want to be treated.  Yes...it says so in the Bible.  Jesus tells us this right there in Luke 6:31:  "Do to others as you would have them do to you."  But do we need to have the Bible opened to the exact page in the Bible that contains this scripture so we can see the words to know that we need to abide by them and then carry that Bible opened to the exact page with us throughout our day so we know to follow this message?

No.

Do I as a parent need to put a sign up in our house that reads, "The following words are not allowed in our house: ______, ________, ________ and especially not ____________!"

No.

My children know that if these words are said they will get in serious trouble.  Do they get to leave the house and say them because they can't see the sign that mom has posted at home?

No.  And if they do...they will not be able to come up with enough excuses for why they used these words because they know the right thing to do.

So just because the sign is snow covered or the book isn't open to the exact page doesn't mean we can ignore the message.  When we know what's right, we must do it.  When we see a wrong being done, we must stand up to it...because it's the right thing to do.  When we see someone tearing down we must do the right thing and build it up.  When we see someone hurting, we must do the right thing and help bring healing.  When we see chaos and destruction, we must do the right thing and bring peace.  When we see hatred, we must do the right thing and show love.  When we see naked, we must do the right thing and provide clothing.  When we see hungry, we must do the right thing and provide food.  When we see homeless, we must do the right thing and provide shelter.

Is it always easy?

Nope.

Jesus never said it would be.

He just tells us it's worth it.

So go ahead...do the right thing.

Put on a Nike shirt if you need to for inspiration and go on...

..."Just do it!"

peace.

Jeanine