"I Ain't Talkin' To That Old Mule"

The story is told of a farmer who once had a visitor lean on his old fence while he watched the farmer plowing with his mule. After a while, the visitor said, "Mister, I don't mean to tell you how to run your business, but you wouldn't have to work so hard if you would just say, 'Gee' and 'Haw' to that mule instead of just tugging on those lines."

The old farmer stopped and pulled out a big handkerchief from his pocket, wiped his face and said, "Son, I reckon you're right, but this old mule kicked me five years ago and I ain't spoke to him since!"

There's just some folks who hold a grudge for a long, long, long time! Perhaps we can remember distinctly the exact words that were spoken to us, or the way we were mistreated, and because of our pride, we're determined to "never forgive, nor forget."

Unfortunately, grudges do not hurt others nearly as much as they hurt us. But no matter how hard it may be, we'll tug on those old reigns until the day we die, rather than seek reconciliation.

The apostle Paul has a better solution than the above farmer. 

He tells us to:

"Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, an clamor, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you" (Ephesians 4:31-32 KJV).

Dear reader, are there any old mules that you ain't talkin' to?

—Mike Riley, Gospel Snippets