Friday, March 03, 2017

A Garden Hose as a Metaphor for the Productive Christian Life: Accepting Humble Circumstances (part 5 of 6)

Another thing we can learn from a garden hose is that productivity is connected with humility. Think about it, where do you usually find a garden hose when it is fulfilling its intended function? On the ground, and frequently in the dirt.

Scripture makes that principle abundantly clear. Proverbs 3:34 tells us that God “shows favor to the humble.”  Proverbs 18:12 reminds us that “humility comes before honor.” Jesus stressed the same principle. Matthew 18:3-4, Matthew 20:26, Matthew 23:12, Mark 9:33-35, Luke 14:8-11, Luke 18:10-14, John 13:3-5,12-15. His disciples learned that principle. James 4:6-7, 1 Peter 5:5-7. As Sirach 2:4-5 put it, “in the uncertainties of your humble state, be patient, since gold is tested in the fire, and the chosen in the furnace of humiliation.”


(A series of four images dealing with this theme were posted on September 18, 2004 here, here, here and here. Images based on other water related themes were posted on September 12b, October 1, November 6, 7, and 10, 2004.

A collection of scriptures dealing with pride and humility  can be found here.  


Images about conforming/yielding to God were posted September 12a, 18a, 18b, 18d, and 23; October 3 and 3a, November 6; and 21, December 8, 12, and 15, 2004 and January 10d, February 18, May 11, June 18 and 27; August 21 and 27; and October 3, 2005.)

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