03
May '24

May 3, 2024

Posted on 3May CATEGORIES: General

03
May '24
In A Pretty Good Person, Lewis Smedes wrote: A federal judge had ordered New Orleans to open its public school to African-American children. The white parents decided that, if they had to let black children in, they would keep their children out. They let it be known that any black children who came to school would be in for trouble. So the black children stayed home, too. Except Ruby Bridges. Her parents sent her to school all by herself, at six years old. Every morning she walked alone through a heckling crowd to an empty school. White people lined up on both sides of the way and shook their fists at her. They threatened to do terrible things to her if she kept coming to their school. But every morning at ten minutes to eight Ruby walked, head up, eyes ahead, straight through the mob. Two U.S. marshals walked ahead of her and two walked behind her. Then she spent the day alone with her teachers inside that big, silent school building. Harvard professor Robert Coles was curious about what went into the making of courageous children like Ruby Bridges. He talked to Ruby’s mother and reported what she said. “There’s a lot of people who talk about doing good, and a lot of people who argue about what’s good and what’s not good,” but there are other folks who “just put their lives on the line for what’s right.”

Paul writes the following of how we should live our lives.

1 Thessalonians 5:13–21 (ESV): Be at peace among yourselves. 14 And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. 15 See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. 16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not despise prophecies, 21 but test everything; hold fast what is good.

I have found that many talk about doing the right thing but few follow through on it. Few have the courage to walk through the fire without throwing a few stones along the way. We tend to be a mixture of good and bad in the decisions we make. I have concluded that it is because it is hard to do the right thing. Yet Paul encourages us to be leaders who shake the lazy into good works, tell the cowards that the fight is worth fighting, give aid to the weak, continue to pray even when heaven is silent, always be positive, use wisdom in all decisions, give thanks for the bad and some of the good and do all these things with an unusual amount of patience. Sound fun? Nope. Yet there is a higher calling and a higher power. Paul reminds us that there is the Holy Spirit to guide and strengthen us and there are the prophecies and sacred scriptures to encourage us in our endeavor. My prayer for you is that you will be a Ruby who is willing to walk peacefully through the fire knowing that the battle is already won.

Pastor Aaron Kruse

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