Where’s the Peck of
Pickled Peppers?
By Elizabeth Cole
“Do not merely
listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.”
James
2:22 (NIV)
Remember
this tongue twister from childhood?
Peter Piper picked a
peck
of pickled peppers;
a peck of pickled
peppers
Peter Piper picked.
If Peter Piper
picked a peck
of pickled peppers,
where's the peck of
pickled peppers
Peter Piper picked?
In
the midst of all the laughter at humorous mispronunciation, I’m not sure I’ve
ever paid much attention to the actual words. Poor guy. And by the way, were
the peppers pickled at the point he picked them, or did he pick the peppers and
then pickle them? (Try that one fast and out loud!) Inquiring minds want to
know because the answer places him in either the grocery store or the field.
But once more, I digress…
Bottom
line, here’s this man who’s spent time acquiring eight dry quarts of peppers
and yet, apparently, he has nothing to show for it and nothing to share.
Depending on your childhood illustrator of choice, either the guy just
carelessly lost all his peppers or else he’s sitting in a corner with a
stomachache, having eaten all the pickled peppers himself. Either way, it’s
terribly sad.
As
Christ-followers, we have access to such abundance: multiple copies of God’s
Word, an endless supply of Bible studies, great teaching, small groups,
stirring worship music. We spend time acquiring spiritual knowledge and
experiences…and yet, it seems that so often, we as God’s people have nothing to
show for it and nothing to share.
A
paraphrase of what James writes in his New Testament letter says, “Don't fool
yourself into thinking that you are a listener when you are anything but, letting
the Word go in one ear and out the other. Act on what you hear!” True
confessions: I’m one of those “inquiring minds.” I love to learn, and there are
times that I digress from obediently applying what God’s taught me to just
being all the more prideful about what I know. According to Brother James,
that’s terribly sad.
The
right-hearted response to knowledge and experiences is to let the Holy Spirit
use them to change us, to cause us to humbly love our God all the more, to move
us a step closer to looking like what He’s always had in mind for us…and then
let Him use us to give God’s love to others, to share, to invest our lives in
others!
Got
anything to show for your time in the Word this week? Check out those pickled
peppers…!
GOING
DEEPER:
1.
As you look back over the first two-thirds of the year, where do you see areas
of spiritual growth in your life?
2.
What would you need to change to reap and use greater spiritual fruit gleaned
from your exposure to God’s Word?
3.
Commit to apply one new principle from the Bible to your life this week.
FURTHER
READING:
Elizabeth is a wife
and mother of three grown daughters. She is the Director of Connecting and of
We Women at Oakwood Church.
