A Murky Spring and a Polluted Well
What happens when you think about seeing a murky spring of water or a polluted well? For me, it puts a bad taste in my mouth. I can imagine bending down to get a nice drink of cool, refreshing water, just to see the water is cloudy, and I pull back. I can see myself about to lower the bucket into a well, and someone stopping me to tell me it is polluted water. In either case I am not going to drink from it. Would you?
Proverbs 25:26 gives this word picture for a righteous person, a believer, who falters before a person who doesn't know the Lord. The results of that failure put a bad taste in their mouth. They decide not to drink from that spring. They stay away from that well. Before we can share the truth of the Lord with them, we will have to admit our sin and repair the damage that has been done by our failure.
What makes it even more serious is that the spring or well that is tainted by our sin could be Christianity and not just our own witness. What we do could lead people to have a bad taste in their mouths toward all Christians and to the Lord, Himself. I have seen evidence of this over the years, and I have read surveys which support this truth. Many people want to know about the Lord, but they have had a bad experience with Christians or with a church, so they are not going to drink. This is a tragedy. We must take the personal responsibility to do whatever we can do to clear up the murky spring and to purify the well before it is eternally too late for the people around us.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Proverbs 26-28.
Proverbs 25:26 gives this word picture for a righteous person, a believer, who falters before a person who doesn't know the Lord. The results of that failure put a bad taste in their mouth. They decide not to drink from that spring. They stay away from that well. Before we can share the truth of the Lord with them, we will have to admit our sin and repair the damage that has been done by our failure.
What makes it even more serious is that the spring or well that is tainted by our sin could be Christianity and not just our own witness. What we do could lead people to have a bad taste in their mouths toward all Christians and to the Lord, Himself. I have seen evidence of this over the years, and I have read surveys which support this truth. Many people want to know about the Lord, but they have had a bad experience with Christians or with a church, so they are not going to drink. This is a tragedy. We must take the personal responsibility to do whatever we can do to clear up the murky spring and to purify the well before it is eternally too late for the people around us.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Proverbs 26-28.