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“Pastor’s Ponderings”

Dear Friends,

Because it was told to me over and over, one of the first lessons I learned on entering the ministry was, “You can’t please everyone”.

That is so true. In fact, if one were to carry that thought further, it is quite similar in concept to another well-known saying by Abraham Lincoln.

“You can fool all of the people some of the time and some of the people all of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time.”

So, you can please all of the people some of the time and some of the people all of the time, but there are some people you can never please.

This makes perfect sense, given how flawed we humans are. Think about it this way. Jesus was perfect in every way and still had those who weren’t pleased with Him.

What, therefore, makes us think we can make please everyone? Rather, we should model ourselves after Jesus and His actions.

“You can’t please everyone” is another way of saying that this isn’t a popularity contest. Jesus wasn’t as concerned with “pleasing” everyone as with doing what was right……even to the point of dying.

Those who weren’t “pleased” with Jesus ended up killing Him. Wrong though they were, they used their displeasure to justify their actions.

And this continues still today…people acting out against others, sometimes in violent ways, simply because they aren’t pleased with them.

Yet I think it would be much worse, if not for that one time, that one momentous event we will be remembering later this month.

Jesus didn’t do what they wanted and, because of that, the Pharisees and chief priests, those He could never please, conspired to have Jesus killed.

His death brought them pleasure (finally), but their pleasure was short-lived, as we all know. Jesus still didn’t do what they wanted. He wouldn’t stay dead.

Just 3 days later Jesus rose from the dead. And that should please us greatly…because His dying on the cross and rising again grants us the opportunity for eternal life.

Happy Easter!

Be Blessed,

Pastor John

1 Samuel 16:7