Associate Pastor Ron Witbeck, Resurrection Life Church Big Rapids
Courtesy photo/Ron WitbeckWe all have doors in our lives that have needed to be closed, some of which may still be causing unrest today. Those doors left open may have caused pain in the lives of others, we may not be aware of that rippling effect it can have.
One of those doors to consider can be our mouths and what we allow to come out of it. In the Book of James 3:10, he tells us, “ Giving thanks and speaking bad words come from the same mouth. My Christian brothers, this is not right!”
This reminds me of a story of a parishioner in a small church that was upset with the pastor and shared their feelings with many others, then feeling a conviction went to the pastor and confessed what they had done. The pastor forgave them, then gave that person one task to complete. Their church sat on a high hill where the winds prevailed. The task was to take a feather pillow outside the church, open the pillow and allow the wind to take all the feathers wherever it blew them. Upon completing the task, they returned to the pastor proudly saying the task was done.
The pastor said "Well done, now I want you to go and gather each of those feathers, putting them back into the pillow casing." The parishioner, with wide eyes said "that is impossible." The pastor then said "it is the same way with the words we let out of our mouths, go and do your best not to sin again.'
‘Closing Doors’ can sometimes be easier said than done. With those memories of the past, they can be reopened by someone we have known or by some event in our lives today. There will be attempts by the devil who would love to have us continue to live in the past and could leave us with feelings of guilt or betrayal.
We may think that the doors are too heavy, thinking that there is too much stuff (feathers) in the doorway. We need only to remember that all things are possible with God! Upon accepting Jesus our past has been removed, the devil has no authority over us or to condemn us, we are forgiven! So let’s keep those feathers within the pillow casing!
— Ron Witbeck is an associate pastor at Resurrection Life Church in Big Rapids.
