Skipping Stones

John 8:7:  “He that is without sin among you, cast the first stone.”

Today I went for a walk around Shelley Lake.  As I was walking I noticed two young boys skipping stones across the water.  One of them was very good at it and could get three or four skips before the stone broke the plane of the water and fell into the lake with a  light splash.  The other boy was not as good.  He would try so hard and might get one or two skips before the stone banged into the water with a lot of force and sank to the bottom.  I smiled as I walked by and remembered as a kid attempting to do the same thing.  It’s amazing how entertaining it can be.

As I walked on though I started thinking about the verse John 8:7, “He that is without sin among you, cast the first stone.”  That is so hard to live by because we have a tendency to judge others.  Even though we know inside that we have done things that are sinful, we still without fail will cast stones at people.  Have you ever done it?  Have you ever caught someone doing something that you yourself have done but still you judge and berate them for what they have done?  It is easy to do.  It is easy to think that the sin that they did is far worse than any sin you have done, so you have the right to cast your stone.  The thing is, a sin is a sin and we have all sinned.  We have all been the one that has had stones cast at us.

Some of us are like that first boy.  We are careful about casting our stone and when we do it goes through so many bumps that it dies out and lands with a soft splash into the one we were aiming for.  Others of us are like the other boy.  We cast our stone so hard that our words and actions hit softly once or twice and then smashes into the one we are casting it at and it sinks in hard.

Actions and words can cause so much pain and sorrow.  Although we know better and would rather not have people do it to us, we still cast stones.  I think I took a lesson away from my walk this morning.  I think I will not throw stones.  I will throw love, and  I will hope that others will do the same for me when I sin. 

May your stones be covered in moss for they are lying at your feet.