DOES POLLYANNA EVEN KNOW SHE HAS A BAD REP?

Monday, June 1, 2020

DOES POLLYANNA EVEN KNOW SHE HAS A BAD REP?

1 Cor 4:4

5 Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God.

           The once popular novelist Eleanor H. Porter wrote the original children's book Pollyanna in war-ravaged 1913. It concerns a destitute, orphaned young girl who's taken in by her grim Aunt Polly. Pollyanna, psychologically, is anti-Grinch. Both are wrong.

           Was Jesus a Pollyanna? Well, I wouldn’t point any finger at Jesus but He certainly had a positive outlook on life. He said: “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”  John 16:33

           The best outlook is one of balance. The world will not, indeed can not, produce peace. It’s bad and getting worse. 2 Tim 3:13 declares “But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.” But Paul’s advice to Timothy in the very next verse was to just keep doing the right thing!

           Warren Wiersbe said, “In these last days, there will be more deception and imitation; and the only way a believer will be able to tell the true from the false is by knowing the Word of God.”

           The word “moderation” is found only once in all our Bible. “Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.”  Phil 4:5 Here the Greek word is epieikes which both “appropriate and gentle.” Moderation, says Dr. Macknight, "means meekness under provocation, readiness to forgive injuries, equity in the management of business, candour in judging of the characters and actions of others, sweetness of disposition, and the entire government of the passions." (from Adam Clarke's Commentary.)

Dear Lord, let me observe keenly, experience patiently, and forgive readily. AMEN