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Apples of Gold
Radio Script for June 8, 2010
“People Are Like Walls”
Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.
I wore out a lot of rubber balls when I was kid.
There were plain red ones, and some had stripes or even polka dots.
Then there were the black super balls that could bounce all the way over your house.
Then they came out with clear super balls, but those were prone to splitting.
But my favorite kind of rubber ball looked just like a baseball. It even had fake stitches.
My dad nailed a metal pie pan to the side of the garage, and there I practiced my pitching. If I could hit the pie pan, then surely I could throw a strike.
And the great thing was, the ball would always bounce right back to me; and that gave me the chance to practice my fielding as well as my pitching.
Then I turned it into a game. I would fire the pitch at the pie pan, field the ball, then fire it to first, which was basically anywhere on the side of the garage. And then if I caught the ball in the air, with my foot on the base, the runner was out.
When my mom looked out the window, she probably just saw a kid bouncing a ball off the garage, not realizing the elaborate rules and strategies involved.
We moved a few times over the years, but I always found a wall for ball bouncing. Some walls were better than others. The best walls were big, solid, flat walls. You always get a true bounce from a wall like that.
The worst wall I ever used was the side of an old barn. Some boards were puckered, some were sticking out, some had knotholes; you just never knew where the ball was going to go.
Now a little variation can spice up the game and make it more challenging. But that barn wall was so bad the ball could go flying 20 or 30 feet away from you. Or if you hit a really bad spot it might go flying right through the wall, into the wretched old barn.
I played these rubber ball games through most of my years growing up, and I became a kind of connoisseur of walls. To this day I can still look at a wall and size it up for ball playing.
And now here’s my point. People are like walls.
Some people are like big, solid, flat walls. These are people of the highest integrity with the most self control. When you bounce something off of them, you are always going to get a true bounce. It will be stable and consistent. The bounce you get today will be the bounce you get tomorrow.
You never have to wonder what kind of mood these people are in. You never have to throw the ball and worry about ducking. You are going to get a true bounce, every day.
Then there are people who are like that old barn. You just never know what kind of bounce you are going to get. Today you might get a true bounce, but tomorrow it could go anywhere.
These people lack stability and maturity. They might fly off the handle. They can be cool about something one day, but the next day that same thing might throw them into a tizzy.
Dealing with them is like bouncing a ball off the old barn. It’s frustrating and aggravating and finally you just have to walk away. It’s more misery than fun. You’d rather not play at all than play with an inconsistent wall.
So the question is, which wall are you? When people bounce things off of you, do they get a true bounce every time? Are you a wall of integrity?
People should always know what they are going to get from us. We should be like big, solid, flat walls, offering a true bounce every time.
People should never have to wonder what kind of mood we are in. They shouldn’t have to feel us out everyday to see if we’re safe or not.
Titus 2 talks about the “grace of God that brings salvation.” And it says that the grace of God teaches us to live “self-controlled, upright and godly lives…”
We must be people of integrity. We must live self-controlled, upright and godly lives. We must be that solid wall, plumb, straight and true.
First Chronicles 29:17 says that God tests the heart and is pleased with integrity.
First Corinthians 15:58 uses these two powerful words – and I’ve heard them as song lyrics – here they are: steadfast, unmovable.
So what kind of wall are you? The shaky, quirky, unpredictable wall?
Well instead, let’s all strive to be the solid wall, steadfast, unmovable and self-controlled, a wall of integrity that always, always, always gives a true bounce.
Comments?
E-mail me: dougapple@wave94.com.
May God bless you today! With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.
© 2010 The Arrow’s Tip
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(Proverbs 25:11 – “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”)
Why “The Arrow’s Tip”? Each morning, after diligently seeking the Lord, I write Apples of Gold. Then before I release it to the public I pray one final prayer, “Lord, send forth your arrows.” I envision Apples of Gold as arrows, tips dipped in the river of the water of life that flows from the throne of God (Rev. 22:1), sailing toward the hearts and minds of men and women around the world.
Doug Apple
General Manager - Wave 94
Christian Radio for Tallahassee
PO Box 4105
Tallahassee, FL 32315
(850) 926-8000
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