Know How to Stop

As a teenager at my dad’s house, we used to pick at each other somewhat playfully.  I am sure no one had any bad intentions, but whenever one plays this game, there is usually some unpleasant truth in every joke.  We would hit my dad the hardest for his balding and for wearing jeans with holes in them.  I know this may seem odd to you because you have seen me wearing jeans with holes in them.  (This is where God’s foreknowledge is amazing, and I am sure He finds great humor in this.)  At some point this joke would go too far, and eventually hit home.  My most vulnerable area involved the fine motor skills in my hands.  My dominant right hand is the leader and my left hand will follow.  This is pretty obvious when I scratch.  If I don’t intentionally hold my left hand in place, it will follow the right hand’s lead.  Let’s just say I could never rub my head and pat my tummy at the same time.  It was more a rub pat that turned out to be a double rub pat.  Anyway, I think I took my hits with good humor because I knew I threw them out as well.  I was quick to use my creativity to find jokes that would get my dad.  So when it was my turn to get teased, I knew I deserved it.   

            A few years ago I was working with one of my youth leader friends who said, “Oh, Pastor Will, you and your hands.”  I kind of shrunk back and said, “I know it’s weird.”  They protested, “No, it’s totally you, and that’s unique.”  I realized the pains of my childhood were surfacing from a friend’s comment, even though he had no ill intentions for me.  This past week I went to a parenting session on how to help write a good story with your kids.  John was a lawyer and his session was very detailed and rule oriented, but he brought up some good points.  One of the rules in John’s house is, “Know how to stop!”  He explained further, “We teach our kids to stop horsing around before the other kids do, and then they won’t get in trouble.  They may miss out on 30 seconds of fun, but then they won’t face punishment.  We tell them if they know how to stop, they can enjoy life, but they need to know when to call it quits.”  Had my family observed this rule, some of the heartbreak of singling out our uniqueness could have been prevented.

            A common theme from the Bible is everything in moderation.  Most people have no clue where this comes from.  Philippians 4:5 is the verse; and, no, it does not say it exactly.  But this concept of enjoying things in life, but knowing when to stop, is the thinking behind a verse like this.  Temptation often catches us off guard; that’s how the devil likes to work.  Ben Rector, a singer/song writer once said, “Sometimes the devil sounds a lot like Jesus.”  His point was that something that God intended for enjoyment can easily be interpreted in a twisted way, or by our not knowing how to stop, or that we justify it in our own minds.

            This weekend we spend time hearing how Jesus handled temptation.  This is truly the theme of the Lenten season.  It is a great time to come back and examine our lives.  On Wednesday we said, “Return to the Lord.”  All too often we think we’ve achieved this, and start walking as Extraordinary Disciples who are following the discipleship model.  Lent brings us back to the moment when we need to discover the areas in which God is bringing us back to return to Him, and receive His grace once again.

            The weekends I spent with my dad were often enjoyable, and sometimes our teasing was great fun.  We laughed a lot and created a lot of great memories, but if only we had known how to stop, it could have been a lot better.  This week we stare into the face of temptation.  Is Jesus teaching us to learn how to stop?  Is He asking us to return to Him in any area of our lives?