The Church by the Side of the Road

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On my way from Jamestown toward Livingston in late September, the afternoon sun shone brightly on this little church by the side of the road. The freshly mowed lawn was evidence that someone was devoted to taking care of this little church.

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I felt as if I had taken a step back in time about 60 years because across the highway beside the smallest church “parking lot” I have ever seen were the church’s two tiny “annexes,” one for women . . .

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. . . and one for men.

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I have seen a few of these outside “facilities” in my time, including the one that stood behind my own home in the country where my family lived until I was almost four years old. The ones I saw the other day were a little more modern than the one my family used. See the light switch on the outside near the door handle? That’s the first time I ever saw one of those on an outdoor privy!

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Well, let’s see. I’ve kinda gotten myself in a situation. How am I going to bring you a spiritual lesson after a story like this one!?

Let’s take a lesson from the devotion of these people. Kinda makes you think twice about people who complain because their church doesn’t do everything just to suit them, doesn’t it? If the folks who go to the little white church by the side of the road can take a trek across the highway to visit the “facilities,” maybe folks need to think twice before letting personal inconveniences and petty issues separate them from their brothers and sisters in Christ. That’s a great lesson for our children, too.

To sum up,
all of you be harmonious,
sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted,
and humble in spirit;
not returning evil for evil
or insult for insult,
but giving a blessing instead;
for you were called for the very purpose
that you might inherit a blessing.
1 Peter 3:8

 

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