The Little Thing That Holds It Up

Sometimes the smallest act of obedience is the one that keeps the whole message from slipping out of place.

Luke 10:16 – “The one who listens to you listens to Me; the one who rejects you rejects Me. And the one who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me.”

Sometimes the smallest act of obedience is the one that keeps the whole message from slipping out of place.

My wife, Kathy, has a hat she wears outside that’s built for bug season in the Mark Twain Forest. It’s a wide-brimmed hat with a built-in net that drapes all the way around her head, keeping mosquitoes and gnats away from her face. At first, she wore it all the time, but over time the elastic band loosened. Eventually, the hat began slipping down over her eyes, turning a help into a hindrance. Frustrated, she set it aside.

One especially buggy day, Kathy grabbed the hat again. This time she happened to be wearing her hair in a ponytail. She slipped the hat on, and the ponytail caught the slack band perfectly, holding the brim up and the net in place. Just like that, a tiny, almost unnoticed thing made the whole setup work again.

Jesus said in Luke 10 that when people listen to us as we speak His Word, they are really listening to Him — and when they reject us, they reject Him and the Father who sent Him. That’s a weighty truth. But He also gives us guidance in 1 Peter 3:15: when we give an answer for the hope within us, we’re to do it with gentleness and respect. That “gentleness and respect” is like the ponytail — a small but essential thing that holds the whole witness together. Without it, our message can slip and fall into the eyes of those we’re trying to reach, and they may reject not because of Christ’s truth, but because of our tone or behavior.

The Lord also reminds us in Luke 9:50 not to reject those who are genuinely for Him, even if they don’t do things exactly our way. If we are on His side, we’re not against Him — but if our actions undercut our words, we may be stepping off His side without realizing it. Just like that little ponytail kept the bug hat working, Christlike character in the way we speak and act keeps the message of Christ clear, so that if it is rejected, it’s Him being rejected, not our own flawed delivery.

Prayer:Lord, keep us on Your side in word, deed, and spirit. Guard us from letting our own behavior get in the way of Your truth. Help us to speak with gentleness and respect, so that the message we carry is clearly Yours. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Selah:

1. When you share your faith, is the “ponytail” of gentleness and respect holding your message in place?

2. Can you recall a time when your tone or approach distracted from the truth you were trying to share? What will you do differently next time?