The Law of the Garbage Truck‏

This was forwarded to me by veteran missionary Joe Jenkins.

"I hopped in a taxi and we took off for the airport. We were driving in the right lane when suddenly a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his brakes, skidded, and missed the other car by just inches! The driver of the other car whipped his head around and started yelling at us. My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And I mean, he was really friendly. So I asked, "Why did you just do that? That guy almost ruined your car and sent us to the hospital!" That is when my taxi driver taught me what I now call, "The Law of the Garbage Truck."

He explained that many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it, and sometimes they'll dump it on you. Don't take it personally. Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. Don't take their garbage and spread it on to other people at work, at home, or on the streets.

The bottom line is that successful people do not let garbage trucks take over their day. Life is too short to wake up with regrets, so....."Love the people who treat you right. Pray for the ones who don't."

Isn't that great wisdom? I would like to learn to live like that. When I stop to think about it, I realize it sounds a lot like what Jesus said in Luke 6:31, "Treat others the same way you want them to treat you."

I think the best way to learn to live like that is practice...practice...practice. It has been said that to make something a habit, you have to repeat it for 15 days straight. Maybe, if we begin to put into practice the words of Jesus found in the Sermon on the Mount, we could learn to live like He wants us to live. "But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." (Matthew 5:44)

One last thought on this subject: "When you recognize that God is your audience and your Judge, it affects everything you do. All of life becomes a worship experience if you are always aware of God's Presence and do everything to His glory." (Taken from the July 11, 2008 Lead Like Jesus website devotional.)

The first key to greatness is to be in reality what we appear to be.-- Socrates