“Hey Mister, I'll bet you $5 I know where you got your shoes!”
One of the funniest street cons I ever saw while living in New Orleans goes something like this --
Young street con, walking up to a wide-eyed tourist: “I bet you $5 I know where you got your shoes!”
Tourist, scratching his head: “There’s no way you could know where I got these! What do you mean?”
Young street con: “I DO know where you got them, I bet you $5 I know where you got them.”
Tourist, confused but taking the bait: “Ok, I’ll take the bet. So, where did I get these shoes from?”
Young street con: “That's easy, Mister, you got your shoes ON YOUR FEET!”
Tourist shakes his head, smiles and gives up his 5 bucks.
Jesus loves people. One look at the cross reminds us that He, quite literally, loves us to death. A look at Peter reminds us that He is a giver of second chances. And we remember from looking again at the “love chapter” in I Corinthians 13 that “love believes all things”.
But from Scripture we also see that there were definitely times when Jesus did not put His trust in people, because He knew exactly what was in their hearts.
The reason Jesus came to us was to get to the Cross to save us from our own sinful hearts. Ironically, in order to accomplish His mission, we see occasions where He walked right past the people He came to save.
God wants to do His mission through you. Love people, as He loved people. But be aware that He may whisper to you, on occasion, that you need to walk right past people who want to trick you or do you harm.
We often think of Jesus being all-wise, holy, all-knowing, unconditional in His love, all-powerful. But, as one writer has put it, how often do we think of Jesus as being smart?
God, help us to be smart in our interactions with people, give us Your wisdom to know how to love people in a way that glorifies You.
[references - John 2:24; I Corinthians 13:7]
