I hold fast to your statutes, Lord; do not let me be put to shame. (Ps. 119:31)
I had come home from seminary to visit with my family. My dad, two brothers, wife, and I were sitting in the car waiting for my mother at the grocery store. When she finally returned to the car, my mom was looking at the receipt and the contents of her shopping bag. “They overcharged me for these cucumbers!” she said. One of my brothers took the receipt and the bag, and jettisoned from the car, shouting “That’s not the way things work!” as he went to make things right at the checkout station. My dad turned to me in the back seat with a grin and explained: “Your brother is at that age when he thinks he can change the world.”
How old were you when you gave up on the idea that being nice, working hard, and playing by the rules would lead to an automatic reward? When we see that the system seems to be stacked in favor of those who circumvent guidelines, who have the most lawyers, and already hold and control the means to success, we can begin to wonder if continuing in the way of God really works.
Everyone will eventually learn that living by God’s Word, in itself, is reward. We must choose the way of faithfulness even when it doesn’t seem to work.
Do the right thing, even if the outcome is unsure.
Rich Eckley is professor emeritus of theology at Houghton College (NY). He is an ordained Wesleyan minister and enjoys—with his wife, Lynn—entertaining four active grandchildren.
© 2022 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.
