POWER OF OBSERVATION

SERMON STORIES: LAUGH & LEARN
#31: POWER OF OBSERVATION

A professor was addressing a new batch of medical students. “There are two things required in the practice of medicine,” he said, “the ability to withstand nausea and the power of observation.” 

He took a jar of weird-looking liquid, stuck his finger in it, and put it in his mouth. He invited the students to do the same. They did and each of them felt nauseous and a few threw up. 

They asked the professor, “How could you take that stuff and not feel anything?” “Aha!” he replied, “that brings me to my second point. If you have been observant, you would have seen me put my forefinger in the liquid and stick my middle finger in my mouth.”

How observant are we? In life, missing certain details can lead to serious consequences. Failing to read the fine print of a contract can cost financial losses. Overlooking defects in heavy machinery can cost lives. More importantly, do we discern the times, as said of the men of Issachar of Israel? “Of Issachar, men who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do….”1 Chronicles 12:32 ESV

“He [Jesus] answered them [religious leaders], “When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ And in the morning, ‘It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.” Matthew 16:2-3 ESV