Welcome to a third thought emanating from the world of bags and containers. In the first, we looked at baggage and luggage. In the second, we encountered portmanteaus and portmanteau words. Today we’re thinking about pokes and what’s inside them.
I suspect you’re now wondering what exactly a poke is. You might have dredged up the expression about buying a pig in a poke and, if you have, you’re in exactly the right territory.
Poke, in this instance, is simply an old-fashioned word for sack. It comes from the French ‘poque’ and also leads us to other English words like pouch and pocket. To buy a pig in a poke is to buy something without properly examining it. The saying goes back to medieval times and the practice of buying and selling piglets in sacks. Piglets had value for the meat they would produce in the future. It’s said that unscrupulous conmen would substitute worthless puppies or kittens and, if you weren’t on your guard, you would have been mis-sold a ‘pig in a poke’. Incidentally, this con trick is also claimed as the origin of the phrases ‘to be sold a pup’ and ‘to let the cat out of the bag’.
Jesus spoke about making a full inspection of discipleship before ‘buying in’. He spoke of a man building a tower and a king preparing for battle. Both, he said, if they were sensible would look at their prospects of successful completion before committing themselves. He wasn’t trying to turn people away but he was wanting them to reflect upon the seriousness of following him – as he wants us to do too. It is no light matter!
But I think it’s also important for us to take a good, clear look at what’s inside our bag of faith for a different reason. Consider all that God has done for you and the forgiveness so freely offered. Consider that love, displayed for you in Jesus, that holds you secure and which reaches out, through you, into the world. Consider the Holy Spirit who leads and empowers you day by day. Consider God’s faithfulness that has followed you through your Christian journey. Consider all this and so many other blessings. Consider as fully as you can all that your bag of faith – your ‘poke’ – contains.
Surely this is too good to keep to yourself. Surely others need to hear what they’re missing out on. Don’t leave them empty handed or offer them something that is not the real thing. Let them see the genuine article, the meat that will feed them for evermore.
Prayer: Lord God, Help me to fully appreciate and value all that you are in my life that I might be ready to share you with others. Amen.