Little Joe – Repost

Army Man
courtesy photobucket.com

When I was a kid in the early forties, I lived on “The Ave.” The Ave was a name for a district in Oakland California.  Everything you needed was available on “The Ave.”  All types of stores from clothing to a bakery, along with banking, grocery, and schools could be found. Most important of all, there was a movie theater!

The Ave was a district where people got along well, even though it was a mixture of many ethnic groups and varied ages. Parents allowed the kids to do pretty much as they wished. If the parents wanted their kids, they could easily find them hanging out on the main street of the Ave.

The bunch I hung-out with were good guys, but each had their own vices when it came to gambling and aggravating each other. Some of the boys got an allowance each week on a certain day. We, who didn't have an allowance, would try to get them in a card game or to shoot dice. It wouldn't take long for us to have their allowance. On one occasion, one of the boys spent part of his money before the game started, and it ticked us off because we felt that it was our money he had spent.

Certain boys were, more often, targets of our aggravation. From time to time, we would try to get a couple of the guys to fight.

One of them was usually a fellow we called Little Joe. That seemed like fun and was entertaining at the time. No one ever got terribly hurt, but just seeing the loser running home crying was very funny to us, and good for a laugh. A few minutes later, all was forgotten and we were back together again.

I want tell you about Little Joe. He was smallish but fat. We would try to get him into a fight at times. He would usually get whipped and we enjoyed seeing him crying and running home.

As time passed Joe began to grow and joined the army. After a tour of duty, he came home, and he had an attitude change.

Now he weighed about two hundred-fifty pounds. He was six feet tall, hard-muscled and wanted to find the guys that used to whip him. Needless to say, they weren't to be found, and Little Joe was feeling pretty good about himself.

Times change and people change. The past election theme was about change.

The appearing of Jesus was about change. The change Christ brings, starts within and is perfected by obedience to the Word of GOD, and then is manifested outwardly to the world.

Little Joe has been bullied and feeling sorry for himself long enough! Change is coming!

It is time for Little Joe (the church of Jesus) to grow up into the mature adult it can be and begin to look for those who have bullied it for these past years and send them packing by its presence.

This post is shared at:  “Tell Me a Story” http://letmetelluastory.blogspot.com/