One afternoon after taking my son, Damien, to the dentist, as I was walking from my car into the house I found myself stepping right through a single strand from a spider that had been strung across my path. The more I struggled to rid myself of that single strand, the more it clung to me. The more it clung to me, the more I was reminded of the scene in the Return of the King from the Lord of the Rings trilogy when the little Hobbit, Frodo, found himself caught in the web of the giant and evil spider, Shelob, trapped in her darkened tunnels. (I also must confess to quietly enjoying my little predicament I found myself in, which seemed to be quite apropos, really, considering that I chose just that morning to don my hand designed Jack O’ Lantern tee-shirt to mark the occasion of the upcoming festive fall season!) But I also could not help but be reminded of the words of the great Sir Walter Scott who wrote centuries ago, “Oh, what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive.” Just as Frodo found himself getting further and further trapped within the webs that bound him in Shelob’s lair, so, too, do we find ourselves when we begin to spin our own webs of deceit.
Some say we bring nothing into the world, and we will surely take nothing from this world. Although I understand the meaning behind these words, I am not sure they are fundamentally sound or accurate. When a child is born into this world it is a great blessing. As the word of God describes it, 4. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the sons of one's youth. 5. Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them! (Psalm 127:4-5a [RSV]) Therefore, I would say it is not accurate to claim that a child brings nothing into the world, for a child brings joy.
It also seems to me that it is not accurate to say that we take nothing with us when we die. I believe we take our reputation with us, as well as leave it behind. We can lose everything materially we have in this life, but if a man has an honest reputation of sound character, then he is rich, indeed. Therefore, it is of the utmost importance for us, especially those who are God’s children, to guard closely our own reputations. Let our “Yes” mean yes, and our “No” mean no, for anything more than this comes from evil (Matthew 5:37). Let us all build a solid character built upon a foundation of truthfulness and righteousness. Our truthful reputation comes from ourselves, but our righteousness comes from the Lord (Romans 5:17).
Honesty is an attribute God has always demanded. In the Law of Moses it was the ninth of what we know as the 10 Commandments: “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor” writes the Lawgiver in Exodus 20:16 [RSV], and it has carried over into the New Covenant of Christ as well. Remember the warning given to us by the Apostle John in Revelation 21:8 [RSV]: “But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the polluted, as for murderers, fornicators, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their lot shall be in the lake that burns with fire and sulphur, which is the second death.” Do not let yourself fall into the trap of getting caught up in webs of deception!
Some say we bring nothing into the world, and we will surely take nothing from this world. Although I understand the meaning behind these words, I am not sure they are fundamentally sound or accurate. When a child is born into this world it is a great blessing. As the word of God describes it, 4. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the sons of one's youth. 5. Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them! (Psalm 127:4-5a [RSV]) Therefore, I would say it is not accurate to claim that a child brings nothing into the world, for a child brings joy.
It also seems to me that it is not accurate to say that we take nothing with us when we die. I believe we take our reputation with us, as well as leave it behind. We can lose everything materially we have in this life, but if a man has an honest reputation of sound character, then he is rich, indeed. Therefore, it is of the utmost importance for us, especially those who are God’s children, to guard closely our own reputations. Let our “Yes” mean yes, and our “No” mean no, for anything more than this comes from evil (Matthew 5:37). Let us all build a solid character built upon a foundation of truthfulness and righteousness. Our truthful reputation comes from ourselves, but our righteousness comes from the Lord (Romans 5:17).
Honesty is an attribute God has always demanded. In the Law of Moses it was the ninth of what we know as the 10 Commandments: “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor” writes the Lawgiver in Exodus 20:16 [RSV], and it has carried over into the New Covenant of Christ as well. Remember the warning given to us by the Apostle John in Revelation 21:8 [RSV]: “But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the polluted, as for murderers, fornicators, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their lot shall be in the lake that burns with fire and sulphur, which is the second death.” Do not let yourself fall into the trap of getting caught up in webs of deception!
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