17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. Galatians 5:17 (NKJV)
By Bro. John L. Cash
Not too long ago I bought a big box of hardcover devotional books at a thrift store for a few dollars. I couldn’t wait to get home to fully explore my treasure. Upon opening the book at the top of the stack, a folded piece of newsprint fluttered to the floor. It was a yellowed newspaper clipping from the 1940’s, bearing the words of a poem. I thought it was too good not to share with you.
The Monkeys’ Disgrace
Three monkeys sat in a coconut tree
Discussing things as they’re said to be.
Said one to another, “Now listen, you two,
There’s a certain rumor that cannot be true,
That man descends from our noble race –
The very idea is a disgrace.
No monkey ever deserted his wife,
Starved her babies and ruined her life;
And you’ve never known a mother monk
To leave her babies with others to bunk,
Or pass them on from one to another
Til they scarcely know who is their mother.
And another thing you’ll never see –
A monk build a fence around a coconut tree
And let the coconuts go to waste,
Forbidding all other monks to taste.
Why, if I put a fence around this tree,
Starvation would force you to steal from me.
Here’s another thing a monk won’t do –
Go out at night and get on a stew,
Or use a gun or club or knife
To take some other monkey’s life;
Yes, Man Descended – That ornery cuss –
But, brother, he didn’t descend from us!”
– anonymous
I think there are a couple of lessons to learn here. First of all, the little old lady who clipped this verse and saved it as bookmark (and probably read it to the “Ladies’ Group” at church) is still touching lives, even though she has long been with the Lord.
We all need to live well every day so that we leave a trail of kind memories and tender tokens of love everywhere we pass. Then our legacy will be making this world a better place even after we leave it.
And secondly, the poem itself teaches a valid lesson. As followers of Christ, we need to live better than the wicked of this world who behave worse than some animals do. Let’s follow the admonition of St. Paul as we live out this coming week: “Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
Dr. John L. Cash is the “Country Preacher Dad.” He was raised in Stuttgart, Arkansas, and has spent the last 29 years being a country preacher in the piney woods five miles south of the little town of Hickory, Mississippi. (On week days has a desk-job at a public school, where he used to teach Latin on closed-circuit-television.) He and his lovely wife, Susan, live in the parsonage next door to the Antioch Christian Church (where the Preacher’s Siamese cat “Kissie” works daily to keep the Cash family on schedule.) Their kids include Spencer (age 23), his wife Madeline (age 23), and Seth (age 20).
