Jesus spoke in parables often
He still does sometimes
Lessons learned of old and new
Teaching us wisdom
Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom:
and with all thy getting get understanding. Proverbs 4:7
I have this most annoying wood stove
It looks okay on the outside
The glass shows a lovely fire inside once it is lit and going
It is faulty
It came with the house
There is a supply chain disruption
so a new one cannot arrive for several months
The winters are cold here
Very cold
Cold enough that I need the supplemental heat from the wood stove
It fails me
The main damper has been bent
There is a hole in the pipe
so that if the damper is turned too much in one direction,
smoke will come out of the little hole into the house
and that damper pretty much has a mind of its own
This house is a fixer
I knew that when I bought it
A fixer that needs a lot of work
Just like me
This wood stove is just one of many things wrong with me,
I mean wrong with this house
I finally got the damper situation figured out
and as long as I don’t jiggle it after I set it just right, it works okay
The heat is not very efficient
Even with a fire going,
it can take hours to raise the temperature a few degrees,
that is, if the fire doesn’t go out when I’m not looking
Looks like for this winter, this is a struggle I’ll have,
this faulty woodstove that I need, that wrangles with me all the time
I’m looking forward to having my new, perfect woodstove
that doesn’t fight with me several times a day
which brings me to the fullness of the parable
The woodstove struggles with me like our flesh does with our spirit
If our spirits were nice and cooperative with what God is trying to do in us, trying to teach us, the direction He is trying to get us to go,
we too would be perfect and functional
It gives me more patience,
knowing this parable about a woodstove that I have to contend with
After so much frustration and accepting its insufficiencies,
I have learned to have more patience for that woodstove
Maybe, like God, I’ll have more patience with myself or even with others, too
And realize that struggles in life are part of our time on earth
We can just do our best, seek God for wisdom,
and do our best to correct the imperfections
Soon enough, we’ll have a new self,
and we’ll forget all about our struggles here
In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye,
at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound,
and the dead shall be raised incorruptible,
and we shall be changed.
For this corruptible must put on incorruption,
and this mortal must put on immortality. 1 Corinthians 15:52-53