The North Wind and the Sun
THE WIND and the Sun were disputing which was the stronger. Suddenly they saw a traveller coming down the road, and the Sun said: “I see a way to decide our dispute. Whichever of us can cause that traveller to take off his cloak shall be regarded as the stronger You begin.” So the Sun retired behind a cloud, and the Wind began to blow as hard as it could upon the traveller. But the harder he blew the more closely did the traveller wrap his cloak round him, till at last the Wind had to give up in despair.
Then the Sun came out. At first he beamed gently upon the traveller, who soon unclasped his cloak and walked on with it hanging loosely about his shoulders. He then shone forth with his full strength, and shone in all his glory upon the traveller, who soon found it too hot to walk with his cloak on, and was glad to throw his cloak right off and complete his journey more lightly clad.
The moral of this story, according to Aesop, is persuasion
is better than force.
As believers we have an important message; we understand
that people all around us are separated from God because of their sins, and if
they would put their faith in Christ they can be forgiven.
Our job is to persuade people to trust in Christ, but we
cannot force them to. Sometimes we may be guilty of manipulation, guilt, or
scare tactics, when all we really need to do is present the truth in love.
Like the sun in this fable, let us “gently beam upon” the
unsaved, and with our loving demeanor, make them glad to throw off the cloak of
sin that covers them.
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