By Pastor Jeff Wade, The Rock of Panama City Beach
April showers bring May flowers. I know you have heard that before right? But is it true? and why do we say it? I got to digging around a little bit and although different sources say different things, collectively here in the state of Florida, September is the rainiest month and not April. I guess it sounds better than September showers bring October…… I can’t even imagine what September showers bring haha.
The statement April showers bring May flowers is actually what I would call a “wives’ tale” or an “Old wives’ tale” Maybe older wives tell different tales? I would love to hear your responses to that! See if some of these sound familiar to you:
The swing of the wedding ring determines the sex of the baby. Pull out a grey hair and two more will appear in its place. Don’t swim for 30 minutes after you eat or else you will get a cramp and drown. Sitting too close to the TV will make you go blind. Spilling salt brings bad luck. It’s bad luck for a black cat to cross your path. A rabbit’s foot in your pocket will bring you good luck.
Have you ever heard of any of those? Isn’t it funny that some people actually believe those things? As of today, I’ve not been able to find a single thing that the Bible doesn’t address. What does the Bible have to say about old wives’ tales? I’m glad you asked. 1 Timothy 4:7 says, “Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales, rather train yourself to be godly.” So, I’ve been pondering this verse today. Perhaps you, like many, wonder what’s the big deal? What harm is there in an old wives’ tale? If I don’t believe it’s true, is it still harmful? And why would God care about this so much as to put it in the scriptures? Well, it all comes down to this… truth.
The reason we are to have “nothing to do with them” is because as a whole, they don’t represent truth and as I see things, this is a huge problem today – not outside of the church as much as inside the church. There seem to be variations of the truth when in fact only one truth remains. Think about it: one preacher says one thing, then on YouTube, you hear something different, and yet another person says something different than the other two. Why would there be so many variations of truth and is truth changeable? Not only that but which one is speaking the truth? The danger in believing and participating in old wives’ tales is not the tale itself, but the fact that it represents something that isn’t true. If we become open to accepting things that aren’t true in the world, we will also become open to accepting variations of God’s truth in the bible. This has happened and is currently happening, and it is doing great damage to the church and the body of Christ as represented in the church. There is only one truth, and that truth is Jesus. There is only one source of truth. That source is the Bible. For me, this is the only thing I can count on, and his word is the only thing I can trust. Perhaps before we spew out another half-truth, like an old wives’ tale, we should be attentive to what the scriptures say about it.
Jesus says in the gospel of John 14:6 “I am THE way and THE truth and THE life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” So, I want to encourage you today to find life and truth and the way through Jesus. He is the author of truth and salvation comes from hearing the truth and accepting that truth. Please know how much you are loved and that I am praying for each one reading this today.
