The butterfly is one of so many examples of God’s artistic side.
John Wesley was the co-founder of the Methodist Church. He was an active participant in the Church of England in the 1700’s. He became disenchanted with the “religiousness” of church. He felt like there was more focus on how worship took place over who was being worshiped. He felt like Christians should be reaching outside the walls of their churches and ministering to prisoners and the poor and others who weren’t welcome in the church of the day.
He was active in the idea of “tent revival” and his ideas spread like wildfire. Many of the people who heard him speak were new to Christianity. Once they became Christians, they were eager to know how to live a Christ-like life. Keep in mind, that there wasn’t a Barnes and Noble on the corner where someone could purchase a Bible. There were no Kindles or iPhones to look up scripture. For that matter, most people couldn’t read.
So, how could he explain in simple terms how to live like Jesus? He came up with three simple rules. We tried these in an adult Sunday School class one time. The simplicity can be deceptive!
The first rule is: Do no harm. Seems easy enough, right? Just don’t hurt anyone in any way. That doesn’t just mean, don’t go and punch them. That means, don’t gossip about the mom you think is drinking too much or about the neighbor who you think is getting a divorce or your child’s classmate who is making bad choices. What about our environment? Weren’t we supposed to be stewards of our environment? What kind of harm are we doing there? It’s kind of like the doctor’s oath, but trickier.
The second rule is : Do good. Does this one seem easier? As we go about our day, how much good are we doing? Sure, we may not be doing harm per se, but are we doing good? Are we truly helping others? Are we striving to make a difference? Are we using the talents that we have been gifted with to further God’s plan or are we using them for our own needs and desires?
The third rule is: Stay in love with God. Oh, thank goodness, the last one is a piece of cake. Not so fast! We can all say we love God; that’s easy enough. But, when you tell your spouse or your family members that you love them, but do absolutely nothing to show it. How do they know? I can tell God all day that I love Him. Do I read His word? Do I share His word? Do I pray like I should? Do I worship like I should? Do I do His will or focus on mine?
The church in Wesley’s time was in decline and he helped to start a revival that eventually spread across continents. I think Wesley was brilliant. Try out the rules and see how you do. They are harder than they appear, but definitely worth trying. The beautiful thing about grace is there’s plenty of room for failure. We get an unlimited number of do overs. Thank the Good Lord! Right?
Let me know how you do. I’d love to hear from you.
Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂