10/9/2007
<br>Author: Devin Pickard
<br>Title: October 10, 2007
<br><br>Hate is a pretty strong word, but I am about to use it.   I hate lima beans.  Yes, I know it’s not the Christian thing to say, but I can’t help it.  I dislike them, despise them, and have disdain for them.  But, instead of saying all of that, it is just easier to say that I hate ‘em.  One night, when I was around 6 or 7 years old, momma told me that I could not get up from the dinner table until I cleaned my plate.  Guess what was on my plate?  You got it, and it sure wasn’t because I had put them there.  You see, they were put there because they were good for me.  I know what the Bible says about obeying your parents and everything, and I certainly agree with that.  But, at the ripe old age of 6, I decided to draw a line in the sand.  It was my intention to put an end to this terrible form of child abuse.  If I had known the number, I probably would have called the Dept. of Human Services right then and there, but they would have just sent me somewhere where I was expected to eat lima beans as well, so I just decided to take my chances there in Shipps Bend.  I finished everything on my plate but those satanic beans.  I then sat with my arms folded and mouth closed tightly.  Momma said “I guess you’ll just have to sit there all night til you eat those beans.”  Well, an hour or two later, maybe it was ten, I can’t remember, I got up from the table and left that pile of cold, shriveled lima beans on my plate.  No, I did not leave on my own.......momma gave me permission.  I had won!  It was a victory heard round the world by other force-fed children!  I guess momma just got tired of watching me sit there in a stare down with those beans and decided to go ahead and send me to my room.  It was at that moment that I decided, remember, I was 6, to NEVER make my children eat anything that might send them running to the bathroom heaving, even if it is supposed to be good for them.  Food is only good for you if it stays down.  I think you can figure that one out.<br><br>Contrary to what some may think, there are some occasions or circumstances to which hate is the proper, Biblical response.  Solomon said in Proverbs 6:16-19, “There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers.”  Matthew Henry said about the above verses, “God hates sin; he hates every sin; he can never be reconciled to it; he hates nothing but sin. But there are some sins which he does in a special manner hate; and all those here mentioned are such as are injurious to our neighbour.”   <br><br>Take special note......God hates the sin, not the sinner.  It would do some of us well to re-learn that spiritual concept.  It is good and proper to hate anything evil, anything sinful, or pretty much any weapon that Satan has in his arsenal.  Remember, we all have those sins that “so easily beset us.”  I’m glad that my Heavenly Father doesn’t hate me when I sin.  If that were the case, he would hate me most of the time rather than love me all of the time.  Hate should never be a term used toward any person.  There will be times in all of our lives when that statement will be tough to swallow, but then again, no one said being a Christian was a walk in the park.  I have heard some say that “church people” were some of the most mean, hateful, evil individuals that they had ever encountered.  Let that never be spoken about you.  Let that never be spoken about us as a people, Church and brotherhood.  Let public opinion be that your Christian motto is one of love and forgiveness, not hatred and maliciousness.  Unless it of course involves lima beans.<br><br><br><br>Go the extra mile - Devin  <br><br>