|
Dear Young Christian:
Is there someone in your life who needs sympathy? There are different ways of showing sympathy. Some are helpful and some not. A fable is related of an elephant who, travelling over a desert, discovered an ostrich egg on the sand. Standing over it, he said, “Poor thing! What a shame! It is all alone!” The tears started in his eyes and rolled down his trunk. “Well,” he said, “I will sit on it myself.”
While we smile at the legend, yet there is a lesson to be learned. We need to be wise and yet harmless. The Lord said, “Be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves” (Matthew 10:16). Let’s be careful in our zeal to help that we don’t crush those who are in need of comfort and sympathy, but lift them up and encourage them in the Lord. “Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees” (Hebrews 12:12). And remember, when we need sympathy ourselves, we have, “an High Priest … who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens” (Hebrews 7:27).
Your Christian Friend,
Jim Hyland
We would love to hear from you.
Send your comments and questions to jhyland@primus.ca |
