The People Rule

Matthew 7:12

I read this fascinating book called
“Beyond the Dead Forest.” It is about these two teenagers, Kat and Carter. They
go on this adventure in a land that only they can see. There, they help the
Guardian fight the Adversary. Kat and Carter’s ultimate weapon is a rule that
they come to know as “The People Rule.” It simply states that you are to treat
others as you would want to be treated. However, here’s the hard part, you are
to treat others like you would want to be treated regardless of how they treat
you. I highly recommend reading the book. The author is Steve Groll and I can give you an order form to order directly from him if you want a copy of the book.  It is like reading tons and tons of actual Bible applications…I loved it.

Why don’t we treat others the way we’d want to be treated? One day, over Christmas vacation, my little man got up early. I knew that he’d get loud and wake everybody up so I took him to McDonald’s to get a biscuit (Jameson calls them “bithkits”). They were swamped! We ordered and just sat down. I wasn’t in any hurry. However, this one dude had obviously been waiting a while for his gravy biscuit, and he was ticked. We got our whole breakfast before he got his gravy biscuit. By the time he got it, he made sure everybody in the store knew that he was inconvenienced.

In the meantime, there was this teenage girl. She had
gotten pancakes. The registers were just lined up with people. I watch her barge
through the line and say “excuse me” in a manner that wasn’t sincere at all. It
might as well have been “get out of MY way.” Then she said “I need some syrup!”
The cashier got her some syrup. Well, like 5 seconds later, she repeated the
process and said “I need some butter!” The cashier got her some butter. I just
sat there and prayed for both of those people and said “Lord, help me never
portray that kind of attitude towards other people.”

Well, a few days later my wife and I went to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. We went to our favorite breakfast place, “The Red Rooster.” It was packed. To make a long story short,
we were there for an hour and a half. As soon as I started getting impatient, I
thought of those two at McDonald’s. I told my wife the whole story. I really
thought this was the Lord testing me to see how I’d react. I decided I was going
to pass. I was going to be respectful and encouraging to the waitress, I was
still going to leave a really good tip, I was going to treat them like I’d want
to be treated.

When it came time to pay, I was even going to let the guy behind me in front of me. I’m glad I did because through our conversation I found that Skillet was going to be playing right next door to the Red Rooster. As we left, I prayed out loud “Lord, will you make a way for us to get into that concert tonight?” To make another long story short, about 9:00 that night, we were rocking to some Skillet…for FREE!

Looking back now, I see more of how God works. I asked Him to help me never portray that kind of attitude towards other people. He then proceeded to set me up and give me a chance to not portray that kind of attitude. I recognized pretty quickly that He was testing
me. I decided to pass the test. He didn’t force me to pass, but He did force me
to take the test. The whole time, He had a reward in mind. If I had not been
patient, there is no way I would have met that last person in line. If I hadn’t
met that last person in line, there is no way that I would have known that
Skillet was performing next door that evening.

Make a habit of applying the people rule. God will make sure that you never regret
it!

Later

Adam