P.O. Box 53055    
Los Angeles, CA 90053   

LAST BUT NOT EASIEST #5

WANTING ANOTHER TAIL FEATHER

Do you remember back to second grade, where the teacher gave you a writing assignment. And you had to write about the most marvelous seven-year-old fantasies: what your perfect house would be like, or the neatest vacation, or the coolest car. So soon hands would be waving in the air: "Miss McGillicutty, how do you spell Maserati?" Of course, you had to draw a picture to accompany this greedy little essay. So there were castles, and stick figures flying jet planes, and rocket trips to exotic planets built entirely out of chocolate marshmallows and Cocoa Puffs.

Well, Dr. Laura Schlessinger came across one such essay, which she uses to illustrate the validity of the Tenth Commandment in our lives today. And the kid's report went like this:

"Nathan (age seven) drew a house and wrote ‘My home' beneath it. He also drew himself with his dog. Next he drew a checkerboard with a face inside each square, and wrote ‘my friends' beside that. Next the essay: The Perfect Life For Me, By Nathaniel. ‘A perfect life for me is the life that I'm in RIGHT NOW. Because I have a lot of friends and have a big family too. I do not need a perfect life.'"

That's a startling insight, isn't it? "A perfect life for me is the life that I'm in right now." This kid had a good family and good friends. And he was content with that.

What does it really say to a watching world when a Christian, especially, is burning up with envy. You know, the book of First Corinthians talks about how God gives each of us gifts, or talents. He chooses the gifts I should have and that you should have. The Bible also says that He directs our paths. So again let me ask: what does it say when a Christian examines those gifts and those paths and then tells everyone he or she meets: "My life is lousy. I wish I had more. I wish I was on a different highway, driving a better car, with a more exciting spouse, and heading to a bigger house, which I could pay for with my more wonderful job than I've currently got." And we might as well add: "I wish I had all these more glamorous things than the actual things this so-called generous God gave me from His second-hand pile of B-grade Christmas gifts. I wish I had what my NEIGHBOR, the famous Mr. Jones, has got."

You know, we're going to do something a bit unusual right here. With March 2, 2002 being the birthday of the late, great Dr. Seuss, we did a little open-heart surgery on one of his medical patients named Mr. Grinch. He was a covetous, crotchety, mean old thing; in fact, according to Dr. Seuss, the diagnostic physician, the Grinch's heart was an empty hole. His brain was full of spiders; he had GARLIC in his soul. In fact, it said on his medical chart that Mr. Grinch was a nasty, wasty skunk. His heart was full of unwashed socks, his soul was full of gunk. So of course, he struggled with the sin of covetousness, resenting all of the holiday joy the people in Whoville were experiencing. He wanted to steal all their presents so that he'd have them and they wouldn't.

Well, one of our Bible School workers, Gloria Maguire, who happens to be a rather experienced grandma, pointed out to us that the sin of coveting is even more dramatically portrayed in another great spiritual classic from the doctor, entitled Gertrude McFuzz. Take a listen to this:

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Gertrude McFuzz: 4:30
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Well, friend, I wish it could be "the end" for each of us regarding our battle with this Tenth Commandment. But I admit that I still struggle with that person across the way who's got two tail feathers and I've got only one. It's such a blessing to visit with you here on the radio, but there are people right here in this building who get to preach the gospel on television. Sometimes that looks more glamorous, more fun. We don't have any makeup ladies here in this cramped little radio booth; I can tell you that. And so I am sometimes tempted to join Gertrude McFuzz in resenting the TWO tail feathers that Lolla-Lee-Lou has. Or Robert Schuller and James Kennedy.

But I have to ask myself again: what does that resentment SAY to my heavenly Father who gave me MY gifts and MY role and MY vineyard to nurture for Him? In his book, The Ten(der) Commandments, Dr. Ron Mehl poses this question any parent can relate to:

"Can you imagine the hurt," he asks, "of a parent whose child goes to school and tells the administrators and teachers that he doesn't have enough food, a nice enough place to sleep, or decent clothes to wear? The burden of a discontented, ungrateful child would be a heavy weight for any parent to bear. How, then, does our discontentment affect the heart of our heavenly Father? I wonder how much it must pain Him when He sees us eaten up with envy, as if to say, ‘What I have isn't good enough. What you have provided is something less than what I deserve.'"

It was like that with Eve, I guess. Here she was living in the paradise of Eden! Everything was perfect! SHE was perfect! Her husband, her world, her life, her future . . . were all unblemished perfection! But when the serpent said to her, "God didn't give you a whole lot, did He? Look at these beautiful tail feathers I got on my own," she fell right into the trap of covetousness . . . and joined Lucifer in slapping the face of her Creator.

Friend, wouldn't it be better to join our thankful little friend, Nathaniel, and sign our names to HIS essay? "A perfect life for me is the life that I'm in RIGHT NOW. Thank You, Father."