There is a story about a little boy walking down a deserted street in his neighborhood when he sees three of the biggest bullies in the area coming towards him. He realizes that he is in big trouble, it’s too late to run for they can all outrun him, so he tries to smile and bravely walk past them. The biggest of the bullies grabs him and shoves him to the ground. As he is getting up and dusting himself off, the bully scowls and says, ”I’m gonna give you a whuppin’ you’ll never forget.” He says this while rolling up his sleeves and cocking his arm for the first blow. The little boy quickly stoops down and with a twig draws a straight line between the boys and himself. He then rises to his full height, which is about half of theirs, and says boldly. ”I dare any of you to cross over that line.” The biggest bully promptly jumps across the line and glares down at him and says, ”And now whaddya gonna do about it?” The little boy smiles, reaches out and shakes the big boy’s hand and replies, ”Congratulations, now we are on the same side.” The big bully looks down on him in amazement and begins to laugh; he turns to his former allies and says to them, ”Yeah, now I’m on his side.” The other bullies looked surprised and frightened and turn and run, for neither of them want to take on the biggest bully of the neighborhood.

The little boy, probably without even realizing it, had demonstrated the truth of many Bible lessons. He had proved that a ”soft answer turneth away wrath.” He had also followed the wise advice of Jesus who said, ”Agree with thine adversary quickly, whilst thou art in the way with him.” He had also proved the truth of the lesson taught by Solomon when he described the incident of the little city with few men within it, ”and there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it: Now there was found in it a poor wise man who by his wisdom delivered the city;” Solomon’s conclusion was that ”Wisdom is better than strength.”

This certainly proved true for the little boy. Are we as wise as the little boy? It was Jesus who told us, ”be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.” Sometimes we get this backwards and we are about as wise as a dove (bird brain) and we are as harmful as a serpent.

The little boy made no attempt to fight or defend himself. Do we? Defending ourselves is not limited to the physical but more often it is done verbally. Peter tells us that Christ ”when he was reviled, reviled not again;” It was Jesus who told us to ”love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.”

These are words we all know but are they words we all obey? When was the last time we actually prayed to God for someone who was mistreating us? ”Pray for him?” we may ask in amazement, but Jesus not only told us, he did it on the cross.

Why is it we know so many facts intellectually but we do not actually put them into practice in our everyday lives? Think of the good that would come to the brotherhood if only all those who are so busy squabbling would stop, and instead pray for those with opposing views and positions. If we all really practiced what Jesus said, we would become part of that group that Jesus described as ”blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God.”

The lines we draw are all human lines. Let us pray that when Christ comes we will be found on his side of the line, for Jesus has told us that ”he that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.”