There’s a story that Thomas Wheeler, CEO of the Massachusetts Mutual Life
Insurance Company, tells on himself. He and his wife were driving along an
interstate highway when he noticed that their car was low on gas. Wheeler
got off the highway at the next exit and soon found a rundown gas station
with just one gas pump. He asked the attendant to fill the tank and check
the oil, then went for a little walk around the station to stretch his legs.
As he was returning to the car, he noticed that the attendant and his wife
were engaged in an animated conversation. The conversation stopped as he
paid the attendant. But as he was getting back into the car, he saw the
attendant wave and heard him say, “It was great talking to you.”
As they drove out of the station, Wheeler asked his wife if she knew the
man. She said that she did. They had gone to high school together and had
dated steadily for about a year. “Boy, were you lucky that I came along,”
bragged Wheeler. “If you had married him, you’d be the wife of a gas station
attendant instead of the wife of a chief executive officer.”
“My dear,” replied his wife, “if I had married him, he’d be the chief
executive officer and you’d be the gas station attendant!”
~~
So, which of these two had the greater influence on the other – the husband
or the wife? You see, in any relationship, both parties have an influence on
the other. After 42 years of marriage, I have influenced my wife to be
different than she was when we met 46 years ago (she now uses a computer and
even has a cell phone) and she has influenced me to be different than I was
42 years ago (I eat more vegetables than I used to!). It would be
interesting to consider which of us has had a greater pull on the other
through the years. I have no doubt.
But an even more important question is this: Who has the greater influence
on the other — you or the world? That is to say, has the world around you
shaped you and made you what you are today, or have you changed the world
around you by your influence on it?
Christians are called by God not to be transformed by the world, but to be a
trans-forming influence on the world. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus
described our calling in this way: “You are the salt of the earth; but if
the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for
nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. You are the
light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do
they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives
light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that
they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matthew
5:13-16)
Make a decision today not to let the world pull you away from God. Rather
determine to live in such a way that will draw the people around you closer
to God.
[adapted]
~~
Dr Bob Griffin
bob@grif.net www.grif.net
“Jesus Knows Me, This I Love!”
