There’s an old idiom said to have originated in the Aesop fable, The Fox and the Lion: familiarity breeds contempt. Aesop was a smart guy. Who are you more familiar with than your spouse? Is your familiarity breeding contempt? Sometimes husbands and wives speak to each other in tones they would never use with a neighbor, or someone from church, or even a perfect stranger.
There’s an old adage that pretty much says how every parent feels at one time or another. “If I’d known what I know now, I’d have skipped the kids and gone straight to the grandkids.” After she ate the apple, God told Eve, “In sorrow thou shalt bring forth children.” Sure, He was talking about the pangs of childbirth (those thorns Adam had to deal with were nothing compared to having something the size of a watermelon inside you—WITH ONLY ONE WAY OUT), but as every mother knows, the pain doesn’t stop there.
I’m a 100% saved-by-grace-through-faith-and-not-by-works person, but sometimes Matthew 25 makes me a little nervous. So, what’s in this scary chapter anyway? Because it’s a lengthy passage, I’ll summarize some of it. "Imagine knowing for all eternity that you sent Jesus out to sleep with the cows and sheep." Verse 31 talks about the Son of man returning and gathering all nations to be judged (not anyone's favorite subject). He sets up two lines: one on the right for the sheep, and one on the left for the goats.
My late husband and I traveled in the ministry for many years. He preached, and I played the piano for our country gospel duo. I played sanctified honky-tonk. My husband said I beat the piano to death. Once we were ministering in a storefront church that was housed in one of those old rock buildings, typical of downtowns everywhere. We were staying with the pastor, who lived in an apartment above the store. Do you know how tall those old buildings are? Well, this one seemed taller than most. Maybe I remember it that way because of the terror I still have when I think about what almost happened there.