Am I A Stone Thrower-From Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power

Thanks so much for joining me today for a little break at Coffee Hour! This is our final WOW, Words of Wisdom and Weapons of Warfare for 2012. My eyes are watering as I write this! Where did the year go? It’s almost time for me to reflect on it all with Him and make goals to press on in the journey that I may be more like Him in my words and actions. Oops, enough about me! Grab your coffee and come on in.

This month’s WOW comes from a series I’ve just wrapped up called The Adulterous Woman and our Words of Wisdom come from John 8:7b. Before I get to the actual WOW, allow me to share a truth within the Word which is singing in my heart and ringing in my ears right now. As I reflect on it, I must confess that it has proven to be true over and over in my life.

Have you ever heard of the scripture that says that the Word is sharper than a two-edged sword? Well, let me tell you these words found in our WOW aim straight to the heart and have the power to explode like the most beautiful array of fireworks you have ever seen. And while the sparks may take years to settle down, they will be leaving an impression that will never leave your mind or your heart. See, a two-edged sword is double the power, cutting in while cutting away!

I can’t help but think of several friends who have some different theological beliefs when it comes to Jesus and how to get to heaven and obviously their beliefs are a mixture of their own life’s experiences as well as others’ opinions which helped formed their own. My heart longs to show and share so many scriptures with them, and yet, the best way to do that is to share how they have come alive in my life, cutting into my heart while cutting away the lies I’ve bought into. That’s when you feel as though you could really tie some super-strong knots in your string of faith!

In our society, we tend to judge a book by its cover or point fingers at others’ indiscretions, lifestyles and/or shortcomings, and basically seduce others with our prideful opinions. In the short story of the adulterous woman found in the book of John, Jesus gives us one of the most powerful and shortest lessons about this very subject to the thousands gathered in the Temple. The Pharisees brought this woman straight to Jesus during the Feast to see how He would punish her.

The crowd watched and waited for Jesus to speak, and I’m sure some even held their breath in anticipation, but what happened next was nothing that they expected. I so wish I could have been a fly on the wall or been in the pocket of one of those Pharisees or religious leaders to see their expression at Jesus’ response to their accusations.

Jesus didn’t say anything at first. Instead, in response to their angry and accusatory words, Jesus simply bent down and began to write on the ground with His finger, almost as if He didn’t even hear them, or maybe He was just tuning them out. I can’t help but wonder what He was writing, but let’s stay in the WOW.

When they continued asking Him, He acknowledged them by standing, ever so slowly. He then looked out to the crowd and spoke confidently the shortest lesson ever taught. Here are the fifteen words that definitely act as a two-edged sword: “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.”

We don’t need to know the beginning or the ending of that true story to get what Jesus said to those gathered at the Temple. His message was pointedly clear then and its powerful meaning has not decreased or changed. His message wasn’t limited to those gathered there that day in the Temple, or just for the people of that generation. No, that is why these Words of Wisdom made it into the Bible, for these words have the power to keep the stone out of our hand and prevent our hearts from turning to stone that we may not be stone-throwers but grace-givers.

Not without sin,

Evinda