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Topic: Acceptance (01/12/04)
TITLE: Acceptance is Best By David Ritchie 01/17/04 |
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Acceptance is something that can come instantly, after much trying, after some sort of initiation and sometimes never. With great interest I watched a group of children as they played together. Two new children were trying to join the group, and while they all appeared to be playing together, it was quite evident that at this point, there was no acceptance of the new children.
It was all in the body language, the sneaked smile, raised eyebrows, silent peer pressure, insisting that no one took the lead to reach out to the new children. Then following the leaders example one by one they left until only the new children remained, while the existing group later reformed at a different spot.
Of course they were only kids what do we expect. Adults would not do that; or would they? Perhaps it is just that adults can be a little more subtle, for hoards of people walk through life feeling unaccepted, by family, peers, and society as a whole. Of course it is not that they have all been shut out, many through low self-esteem and a whole host of reasons never find acceptance from others or even accept themselves.
Through 57 years of living I have know acceptance to the point of being the centre pin around which so many things revolved. I have also known rejection even by people not remotely affected by the ‘church politics’ that had taken place. I can say without a doubt that the former tastes much sweeter. However sometimes like taking bad tasting medicine to find a cure, God puts difficult situations in our path that we must pass through to encounter all he has for us. It is often in these situations that we get our minds off people and on to himself, there to find true acceptance.
As I read Psalm 23 this morning I am so thankful for the acceptance we find there, not only is it something we find, but also it follows us all the days of our life and throughout eternity.
Davy Ritchie