Just a mess of weed(s)

Poor Charlie got a ticket from the mess of weeds in his back yard. His town officials didn’t look kindly on the need for some mowing and hoeing. In small towns, those kinds of tickets always show up in the newspaper’s report of the police activities. So Charlie braced himself for the embarrassing account of his ticket.

But the cub reporter writing up the police news was perhaps a little too fresh out of college, for he saw “weed” and wrote “marijuana.” So the news announced that Charlie had been ticketed for raising a bunch of marijuana out back.

Assumptions are amazing things, aren’t they? Eve assumed she knew what God meant about the tree in the garden. Jonah assumed God couldn’t leave the country. The rich young ruler assumed keeping most of the laws, making him better than most, would get him into God’s kingdom.

Assumptions happen when we react rather than investigate. A few well-placed questions can point out a clearer path. Going to the source, clarifying the issue, questioning your viewpoint – these are the tools to fight back assumptions. Think what would have happened if the reporter has asked the police department secretary, “what kind of weed?” Think what would have happened if Eve had asked Adam, “God said not to eat this fruit, right?”

We can't assume our viewpoint is 20:20. Ask.

'Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.'

Jer 33:3