John 1:4, HCSB
Two young girls were visiting their grandfather at the funeral home he owned in a small Michigan town. As you can imagine, there wasn’t a lot there to keep the interest of two small girls! So, looking for something to do, they decided to set up a lemonade stand.
Finally, they came with an idea–a wonderful idea! With a great deal of excitement, the sisters dragged some wooden crates from the garage, got some lemonade from their mother, and went into business. Two full hours went by as they sat in the summer heat–but not one person stopped to buy a drink from them.
After a little while, they were ready to give up. With disappointment, the girls finally complained to their mother, who came outside to check things out. When she saw the stand, everything suddenly made sense.
Printed on each of the girls’ crates were the words: “Embalming Fluid.”
The problem was not the lemonade, nor was it with the girls themselves. The problem was that they were sending out the wrong message. They were communicating something to potential customers which effectively drove them away. In our roles as followers of Christ, we know there’s nothing wrong with our message if we stay faithful to the Word of God.
The problem may be in the communication, the way we are sharing the Message. The ways we live out the Gospel of Christ may be sending the wrong message to our “customers,” those whom we are attempting to lead.
Let’s take a lesson from the young sisters and make sure that the message we share reads “Life” rather than “Embalming Fluid.”
--Rocky Henriques, www.uticabc.com