Got Flies...In Your Medicine?

Got flies...In your Medicine? There is an interesting verse in Ecclesiastes that talks about flies being found in medicine. “Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour: so doth a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom and honour.” Ecclesaistes 10:11. What does it mean to find flies in ointment or medicine?

Sometimes we really rely on medicine. As a matter of fact, I have medicine in my house that may save a life if given within just a few minutes of an incident. Maybe some of you carry a life- saving medicine with you in case your child comes across a serious allergen or suffers a seizure. That medicine is vitally important to you because without it, you or someone you love may die.

However, if you were to open the medicine and find it had flies in it right when you needed it most, you would have to make a quick decision...use it in spite of the flies and try to work around them, or throw it away and take your chances.

If we are truly Christians--that is, we are truly Christ-like and true followers of Him--we have the medicine that those around us need to live. We possess the ability to dispense the life-giving medicine of the Gospel that we also once received. However, sometimes when people come to us for that medicine in hopes that they will be freed from their own injuries and sickness, they realize in despair that the medicine has flies in it...nasty, sticking flies are in the medicine that they hoped would solve their problems.

What are the flies that ruin the medicine? Well, I’m sure that we could sit here all day, and think of the flies that turn people away from the very thing that would help them most. After all, flies don’t necessarily lessen the medicine’s potency, they just make it less desirable.

Recently, I was in a situation where I was trying to dispense medicine to a needy person. This person had big problems in their life, and I was trying to share the medicine that so radically changed my life. I felt sure that what I had to share could also change the life of the person that had come to me. I knew that the problems that this person was experiencing could be eliminated if they were just to take the medicine. I knew that God had an answer for them if they would just trust in Him and walk in His ways.

Imagine my shock, however, when I realized that my patient wasn’t interested in the medicine. They were not interested in the medicine because when they got there to take it, they saw a bunch of floating flies in the medicine, and it turned them off. The painful thing about it was that they never were opposed to taking the medicine, they just couldn’t get past the flies floating on the top.

The flies floating on the top of the medicine of the Gospel that we have to offer to others is when we fail to line up to the stringent requirements that are required of those who dispense medicine. Especially when we have petty squabbles with others who are also prescribing medicine, it makes those flies float to the surface and turn away the patients who would have taken it.

While I was trying to convince my patient to take the medicine, I realized that it wasn’t going to happen simply because of the sorry example of others who had also tried to dispense. This Christian had a squabble with that one and had never made up. Two Christians engaged in struggles of personal power between families and careers and long forgotten sources for the conflict had become the flies floating on the surface of the medicine that I was trying to offer. My patient didn’t want anything to do with it.

Sure, I could point out that true Christians don’t act that way. True Christians always use 100% of their effort to try to get along with those around them. True Christians can shake the hand of anyone in the church and truly mean it. True Christians can invite anyone into their home and have an enjoyable evening. Sure, there will always be personality conflicts and those we prefer not to be around too long, but true Christians don’t hold on to hurts and grievances. True Christians go to others and try to work things out instead of holding out grudges that end up lasting for years. True Christians don’t pass on slights to their children so that the younger generation carries on their own little power struggles. True Christians can look others in the eye and say, “I am sorry, and will you please forgive me?” As those that are around me know, because I have to say it fairly often... true Christians may often say, “I was wrong, and I am so sorry.” They may often have to say, “I spoke too quickly or my words were insensitive.” They also can say, “I know we have differences, but is there any way possible that we could work it out.” True Christians can sit beside anyone on a church pew and share a hymnal, work together on a project, and clap when the other person’s child does better than their own. True Christians carry no sense of competition with another person or their family. They concentrate on perfecting their own weaknesses and ignoring the weaknesses of others. True Christians are glad when someone else’s successes (or the successes of their children) are better than their own, and they sincerely congratulate them, and teach their children to do so also. In short, true Christians truly act like Jesus. When we fail to measure up to these requirements for those who dispense God’s pure medicine, we become flies in the ointment and instead of offering life, it stinks!

My prayer is that I will not only be one that can dispense God’s life giving medicine without turning people away, but that the way I live will not bring flies to the surface. I pray that when I mess up, I will have the backbone and grace to admit it and do anything possible to correct the situation. God expects a lot from those of us who want to share His life giving solutions with others. Let’s make sure that our medicine has the sweet smell of Jesus so people will be eager to take our medicine!