" Let him refrain his tongue from evil and his lips that they speak no deceit."
THERE is a story about an Indian hunter who wanted to shoot an eagle. None of the arrows in his quiver would shoot far enough or straight enough to hit an eagle in flight. But the huntsman was clever. He went to the cliff where the eagle lived and shouted, "Come down, Eagle, I want to talk to you." "Oh, no," said the eagle. "You want to shoot an arrow into me." "But I have no arrows with me," answered the hunter. "All I want is that you come down and give me one of your feathers so that I can admire its beauty. Everyone knows that the eagle's feather is the most beautiful on earth." The eagle was so pleased to hear this that he said, " I will not come down, but I will let one of my wing feathers float down to you and you can admire it." The huntsman took the feather home with him and fitted it to his arrow.
The next day he went back and shot the eagle. The arrow went straight to the eagle's heart. He fell down at the huntsman's feet and just before he died, he saw that the arrow had been feathered with the feather from his own wing.
That is the way it is with a lie. It may be just some little thing that we let fall but it can come back and harm us. Once a lie is told it goes wafting out through the world and then we forget about it until it comes back, to us. The trouble with lies is that we seldom are able to tell just one and get away with it. We have to tell more and more to cover up the first one. Before we know it we have done serious harm to our souls.
The Devil is like the wily huntsman. He knows that if he can get us to tell a little lie it will not be long before we will be telling bigger and bigger ones. When we grow up it has become a habit. Then he can laugh at us and call us that horrible name "Liar." Watch out for the first lie. Then the others will not happen. Do not be like the foolish eagle and let fall a feather from your wing, which will come back to you on the shaft of an arrow. "Let him refrain his tongue from evil and his lips that they speak no deceit."
THERE is a story about an Indian hunter who wanted to shoot an eagle. None of the arrows in his quiver would shoot far enough or straight enough to hit an eagle in flight. But the huntsman was clever. He went to the cliff where the eagle lived and shouted, "Come down, Eagle, I want to talk to you." "Oh, no," said the eagle. "You want to shoot an arrow into me." "But I have no arrows with me," answered the hunter. "All I want is that you come down and give me one of your feathers so that I can admire its beauty. Everyone knows that the eagle's feather is the most beautiful on earth." The eagle was so pleased to hear this that he said, " I will not come down, but I will let one of my wing feathers float down to you and you can admire it." The huntsman took the feather home with him and fitted it to his arrow.
The next day he went back and shot the eagle. The arrow went straight to the eagle's heart. He fell down at the huntsman's feet and just before he died, he saw that the arrow had been feathered with the feather from his own wing.
That is the way it is with a lie. It may be just some little thing that we let fall but it can come back and harm us. Once a lie is told it goes wafting out through the world and then we forget about it until it comes back, to us. The trouble with lies is that we seldom are able to tell just one and get away with it. We have to tell more and more to cover up the first one. Before we know it we have done serious harm to our souls.
The Devil is like the wily huntsman. He knows that if he can get us to tell a little lie it will not be long before we will be telling bigger and bigger ones. When we grow up it has become a habit. Then he can laugh at us and call us that horrible name "Liar." Watch out for the first lie. Then the others will not happen. Do not be like the foolish eagle and let fall a feather from your wing, which will come back to you on the shaft of an arrow. "Let him refrain his tongue from evil and his lips that they speak no deceit."
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