Hot Check Charlie

As snow in summer, and as rain in harvest, So honor is not seemly for a fool.

Proverbs 26:1 ASV

This is quite a profound scripture. I cannot help but wonder what provoked Solomon to write such thoughts in the first place. Snow in summer, rain in harvest and honor for fools-these seem to be far flung thoughts with no explanation. Perhaps Solomon intended for us to search out his meanings of these thoughts for ourselves.

The point seems to be that honor is not bestowed on everyone. There are certain character qualifications that are needed to be a recipient of honor. People can do powerful things in their lives, but if they are without character then they will not receive honor. Hitler is a good example of one who did powerful things, but he died in dishonor. Therefore it is not about how big the things are that you do, but how big your character is while doing them.

Some experiences in life are almost too good to be true, while others are too bad to forget. Such was the case with me and many others like me back in the mid fifties when trying to get a good job was out of the question. That means that I was thrilled to even get a bad job.

I have had many interesting 'Charles' in my life, but the one I want to talk about today was no doubt the icing on the cake. This Charlie remodeled homes for a living and was always open to hire a fresh new dummy. If Charlie paid you at all, he paid you with hot checks. Those of us who worked for Charlie referred to him as 'Hot Check Charlie'. Since jobs of any kind were hard to find I figured I would rather have a bad job with hot checks than no job at all. Charlie was what you might call a high level manipulator who did not have a lick of character. That means if you were going to work for Charlie you had to learn how to out manipulate the manipulator.

A person like Charlie was certainly not a candidate for honor apart from a miracle in his life. However that is what the cross of Calvary is all about. Charlie may not have been guilty of having any real character in his life but neither did I before I met the Lord.

Perhaps Solomon was thinking about all of the 'Charlie-types' of the world when he wrote our text. I think it is far too easy for us to judge those like Charlie who may have been on their way to salvation, and forget about our own wretched 'Charlie-life' before we were saved.

I never cease to be amazed at how quickly we forget about our own 'Charlie-life' as if it never happened. Maybe it would be good for us to reflect back once in awhile just to keep us from walking in false pride.

Father,

As strange as it may seem I do thank you for putting Charlie in my life. I am sorry Lord that I was so busy trying to out-manipulate Charlie's manipulation that I forgot all about telling him about You. Help us all Lord to be more alert to “Charlie spottings” and ministry opportunities for the kingdom.

Amen