To Bee Or Not To Bee – Thoughts From An Encounter With Bees

Over the weekend, I was doing some odds and ends around the house when I had an encounter with a nest of ground bees.

I had just put up some fall decorations on our front porch when I noticed some weeds in the landscape in front of the porch.  Naturally, I knelt down and start pulling weeds.  As I started to get a large hand full of weeds, I felt something sharp and almost thorny at my wrist.  At first, I kept going, but I quickly stopped when I realized that this pinching feeling wasn’t going away.  Suddenly, I realized that I was being stung by a bee and there were tons of other bees swarming around me.  I quickly dropped my handful of weeds and ran into the front yard trying to get away from the swarm of bees.  Remarkably, I was only stung once.

Two days later, my wrist still hurts and itches.

The bee sting got me thinking some key “Be” verses from the Bible that merit some extra reflection.

• He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”  Psalm 46:10
• Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come.  Mark 13:33
• Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.  I Corinthians 16:13
• Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.  I Peter 5:8-9
• Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.  Ephesians 4:32
• Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.  Romans 12:12

I’m sure this is just a start.  What other “Be” verses can you add to the list above?  When was the last time you were stung by a bee?