"It could be me..."

One day while out with my husband, I noticed a convertible beside us with 4 people in it - 3 men and one lady. I was about to comment about it to my husband - more like "condemningly" asking: 

"What's that lady doing in the company of 3 men?"

As I processed it, it occurred to me that "It could be me." Let me break it down: If I was going somewhere with my husband and brothers, I'd be the only lady there. In fact, at the rate our children are growing, it's beyond could - it would be me in a few years' time.

Just a it came to mind, Matthew 7:1-2 struck me in a different way. It advises:

“Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. For you will be treated as you treat others. 

The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged. (NLT)

It's so easy to look at people and pass a "sentence" without pausing to consider why they may be in the situation they are in. We really need to be less hasty and harsh in the conclusions we make about others and our subsequent conduct towards them.

The scriptural example that comes to mind is Job. Isn't it interesting that Job's friends took up 28 of the 42 chapters (two-thirds) of the book of Job pass their sentence on Job? Then at the end, God called them out on it in Job 42: 7-8:

After the Lord finished speaking to Job, he spoke to Eliphaz the Temanite. 

He said, "I am angry with you and your two friends. You have not said what is true about me, as my servant Job has. "So now get seven bulls and seven rams. 

Go to my servant Job. Then sacrifice a burnt offering for yourselves. 

My servant Job will pray for you. And I will accept his prayer. 

I will not punish you for saying the foolish things you said. 

You have not said what is true about me, as my servant Job has." (NIRV)

More and more we're being challenged to "think on our feet" however, we must remain, swift to hear slow to speak and even slower to "sentence" others.

Remember, it could be you...