“Don’t run, just stand your ground,” my Dad advised when a dog was barking aggressively at me as I tried to make the milk delivery. I used to ride along with my Dad on his door-to-door milk delivery route as a kid and people’s dogs could be a hindrance to such deliveries.
Many times the dogs were more aggressive when the owner was watching. If the owner wasn’t home the dogs just watched. Some would cower behind a door or at the far side of the yard. However, when the dog’s owners were nearby the cowards felt empowered and would act snarl, snap and make faces at me.
The social media has empowered many cowards. They can spew voracious verbiage without seeing how they hurt people. They are empowered by the anonymity of the social media. They make a lot of noise like the dogs did when their owners were nearby.
The question God is pressing on my heart this morning is how easy it is for my own empowered coward to come out when he feels protected.
Jezebel empowered Ahab by giving him what he wanted no matter the cost. What if the cowards of this world had that kind of power? What if I had that kind of power? God knows that would be a bad idea. I am so glad that we are all answerable to God. This limits the empowered cowards – it does mine, anyway.
“And Ahab came into his house heavy and displeased because of the word which Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him: for he had said, I will not give thee the inheritance of my fathers. And he laid him down upon his bed, and turned away his face, and would eat no bread. But Jezebel his wife came to him, and said unto him, Why is thy spirit so sad, that thou eatest no bread? And he said unto her, Because I spake unto Naboth the Jezreelite, and said unto him, Give me thy vineyard for money; or else, if it please thee, I will give thee another vineyard for it: and he answered, I will not give thee my vineyard. And Jezebel his wife said unto him, Dost thou now govern the kingdom of Israel? arise, and eat bread, and let thine heart be merry: I will give thee the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.” 1 Kings 21:4-7.
© copyright Kevin T Boekhoff
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