June 1

Waverers

After John’s messengers had left, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swaying in the wind? — Luke 7:24 BSB

The picture is of a man who is wavering and unstable, easily swayed from uprightness. This describes many people. A reed grows in soft mud by the water's edge, fragile and delicate, so that every breeze bends it. Jesus did not suggest that John was like this; He meant the opposite. John was not like a reed shaken by the wind. He was a man of unwavering conviction. Rather than preach soft words to please Herod or remain silent about the king’s sins, John fearlessly spoke the truth, even though it cost him his life.

But some people are like reeds. Instead of being firmly rooted in Christ, their roots are in the soft mud of the world, making them easily uprooted. They have no solid principles to hold them upright, so they are swayed by every fear or favor. The boy who can’t say no when others pressure him to do wrong is a reed shaken by the wind. The girl who is pulled away from Christ by worldly pleasures is also a reed, bent and swayed by external forces.

These reeds are everywhere, and every time the wind blows, they bend. Who wants to be a reed? Who wouldn’t rather be like an oak, growing in solid ground, unshaken by storms?

There’s one apparent advantage to being like a reed: it seems to avoid persecution. John wouldn’t have lost his head if he had been more easily swayed. People who are like reeds don’t often become martyrs. But they are in danger of losing something far more important—their souls.