My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and then someone should bring him back, remember this: whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins.  (James 5:19-20)

You’re a rescue hero.  Didya know that?

You have the power to save someone from death.  Woo Hooo!

But of course, with great power comes great…

Yep.

My wife’s family used to have a dog named Cabo.  Fantastic, strong, loyal Labrador Retriever.  Dogs just don’t get any better than that.  Cabo used to do a funny thing that quickly became annoying when he wouldn’t stop (man, do I identify with that dog).  Anyway, when people were swimming in the pool, Cabo would dive in, grab them by the arm, and drag them to safety.

Except they weren’t in danger.

They were just swimming.

Until the massive, hairy beast clamped his jaws ever so gently on an appendage and bodily removed them from the pool.

Cabo thought he was a hero.

He was just annoying.

On the flip side, when I was a kid my friend’s toddler-aged brother decided to teach himself to swim.  He wasn’t very good at it.  

At all

We looked over and saw him thrashing around under water.  Had someone not immediately jumped to the rescue, we would have lost him.  The kid was annoying, but still…

My point?

Before you dive into the pool, make sure the person is really drowning.  Maybe their swimming technique is just a little different.

But if they are drowning, don’t stand and yell at them to get out of the water.  Dive in.

Be a rescue hero.

Um…you know this is a metaphor, right?

Good

Happy Friday, Beloved.