Religion: A Pastor Ponders

Learning our lessons

By Pastor William Jenkins

October 17, 2007

Whatever the relationship between God and Mother Nature, we do know that God wants us to take care of this beautiful world He has given us. Parents have been teaching their kids about nature long before folks began talking about pollution and ecology.

For example: A boy went fishing with his dad and was scolded for tossing a banana peel into the stream. “The Lord doesn’t like for us to dirty up His rivers,” explained the dad. Just then a sudden squall came up with thunder crashing and lightening forks stabbing down all around them. Father and son hurried back to camp through a drenching rain. As they sat shivering miserably in the tent, soaked to the skin, the little boy cautiously opened the tent flap, looked up at the sky and said, “All of this over one little banana peel!”

One of the great lessons we can teach children is that there are consequences for their actions. Good actions produce good consequences and bad actions produce bad consequences. The sooner children learn this lesson of life, the safer and better adjusted they will be. The Bible expresses this lesson this way, “Whatever you sow you will reap.” (Galatians 6:7) It’s better to learn this lesson over something small like a banana peel, than over something far more serious.

The greatest lessons of life are learned and reinforced in our houses of worship. I hope you will be a student there this week.

League City United Methodist Church is located at 1411 Main Street (FM 518), one block east of Interstate 45. For information, call the church offices at 281-332-1557 or visit the Web site at

HYPERLINK - http://www.lcumc.org