Among the many teachings of Jesus, he said,

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. Matthew 7:7

We often think of that verse in terms of problems we’re having or difficult decisions we must make, but in the closing verse of that section, Jesus gives what we have come to call “the golden rule.”

So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. Matthew 7:12

That can apply to those things you refrain from doing , those impulsive negative reactions, but it can also apply to those things you determine to do, those positive actions.

I thought you would enjoy an amusing story I found in my archive of materials to illustrate this point—author unknown.

Sammy, a third grader is sitting at his desk at school, when suddenly, there is a puddle between his feet and also, the front of his pants are wet. He thinks his heart is going to stop. How did this possibly happen? It’s never happened before, and he knows that when the boys find out, he’ll never hear the end of it. 

Sammy believes his heart is going to stop; he puts his head down and prays, “Dear God, this is an emergency! I need help now! Five minutes from now, I’m dead meat.”

He looks up from his prayer, and here comes the teacher with a look in her eyes that says he has been discovered.

As the teacher is walking toward him, a classmate named Susie is carrying a goldfish bowl, filled with water. Susie trips in front of the teacher and unbelievably dumps the bowl of water in Sammy’s lap. Sammy pretends to be angry, but all the while is saying to himself, “Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord.”

Now, instead of being the object of ridicule, Sammy is the object of sympathy. The teacher rushes downstairs to get him some gym shorts. Meanwhile, the children are on their hands and knees cleaning up around his desk.

The sympathy is wonderful, but the the ridicule that should have been his has been transferred to Susie. She tries to help, but they tell her to get out. “You’ve done enough, you klutz!”

Finally, at the end of the day, as they are waiting for the bus, Sammy whispers to Susie, “You did that on purpose, didn’t you?” Susie whispers back, “I wet my pants one time, too.” 

May I suggest that you stretch your mind to think of even one person this week who has a need but is too embarrassed to ask. They may be alone or lonely during this hunker-down season. You may be one of those yourself, but I challenge you to find another. What you “do unto others” may be a phone call, a thinking-of-you card, delivering flowers out of your garden, an outdoor visit (6 feet apart, of course) or whatever you can imagine. Ask, seek, knock and he will give you that person. I’ll start praying, too.

~ Joyce ~