Recently my friend Greg Rogers with Romans 8:36 Body shop shared the parable below with me. The more I thought about it the more I became aware of a problem inside many of us that makes this parable so much deeper than what you may think at first. If you are not familiar with this parable, I will let you read it first then I would like to share a lesson along these lines God taught me the hard way.
Parable of the Spoons
A holy man was having a conversation with the Lord one day and said, “Lord, I would like to know what Heaven and Hell are like. “The Lord led the holy man to two doors.
He opened one of the doors and the holy man looked in. In the middle of the room was a large round table. In the middle of the table was a large pot of stew which smelled delicious and made the holy man’s mouth water.
The people sitting around the table were thin and sickly. They appeared to be famished. They were holding spoons with very long handles and each found it possible to reach into the pot of stew and take a spoonful, but because the handle was longer than their arms, they could not get the spoons back into their mouths. The holy man shuddered at the sight of their misery and suffering. The Lord said, “You have seen Hell.”
They went to the next room and opened the door. It was exactly the same as the first one. There was the large round table with the large pot of stew which made the holy man’s mouth water. The people were equipped with the same long-handled spoons, but here the people were well nourished and plump, laughing and talking.
The holy man said, “I don’t understand.” “It is simple” said the Lord, “it requires but one skill. You see, they have learned to feed each other. While the greedy think only of themselves.”
The more I thought about this picture the more I perceived a difficulty not so easily recognized. I believe it’s very common and joyful for Christians to want to feed others. The challenge I think is allowing yourself to be fed. Here is the story I think about.
Back in 1996 I was finishing my Chemo treatment for lymphoma when my left leg was crushed by a Jeep that the driver had gotten out and failed to put in park or set his emergency break. Being down hill and at the back of my Jeep I was able to get my right leg up in time but my left leg didn’t make it. The result was I was in a wheel chair for a time as I recovered. At this point I found myself helpless on many levels, humbled no doubt in many ways but the one that God us3ed to teach me this lesson was this.
My Sunday school class came and built a wheel chair ramp on my house. It’s really hard to explain how humbling all this was. I was a baby Christian at the time and had never really lifted a hand to help anyone in such a way; the thought would have never even crossed my mind. Mike Ham, the teacher, was standing at my back door and I rolled over and ask him, what, had I ever done to deserve such kindness. Mike told me something I will never forget. He said, “Robby, you have no idea what a joy it is to be able to help you, it’s something we live for. Most people won’t let us help them and when they won’t let us help they rob us of the blessing.”
Now getting back to the Parable Of The Spoons, how hard is it to allow yourself to be fed? In what ways are you robbing others of the blessing to help you through something you can’t do alone or perhaps shouldn’t? This is so simple yet so hard, even when I want to serve myself rather than put my wife out to fix me something. Lately I have noticed in some ways I am robbing her of the joy of serving me. I do understand there is a fine line here, but there is a line and I tend to cross it on the side of too much independence.
Then there is the biggest challenge of all. Do I allow The Father, The Son and the Holy Spirit to help me, heal me, and feed me? Really? What ways am I missing the boat, or perhaps the Whale as I am so busy arranging my life I fail to have Life. God grant me the ability to see my desperate need for You and others to feed me.
Tags: #christiancarguy
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