A full and interesting day, Father. Thank You for the opportunity of getting to know a couple of friends a little better on a shared bus trip. Use our interactions to strengthen the spiritual bond between us. Amen.
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This morning something very exciting happened to me! Some people seem to experience it regularly, but it had never happened to me. Early on my elementary route, I witnessed a large bird take into flight from the road several yards in front of me. It was a bald eagle! To my knowledge, I have never seen one in the wild. Oh, the joy of God’s creation in all its many forms!
It is commonly believed that early on in the history of the United States, there was a competitor of the bald eagle for being our national symbol – the turkey! Both are native to North America and are fairly common in the United States. I understand that the turkey was not really considered but that it was merely Ben Franklin’s private opinion on the matter.
What got me thinking, was comparing the two birds. We have come to hold the bald eagle as majestic and regal. And as far as the turkey is concerned, we are more apt to think of them as being much more common and not overly bright. Though they can fly (as I mentioned in a previous post – See How Fast You Can Fly!) they really don’t seem to match up to the highly held stature of the bald eagle.
Without going a great deal into comparing the two, the point I want to stress is, at least from a human perspective, we need to be careful of who we hold in high esteem. It is easy for us to admire those with power, talent, wealth, beauty, etc. For example, I am astonished that we put so much stock into what entertainers have to say about important topics! Yeah, I can sing better than most people, or I’m better at throwing a ball through a hoop than just about everybody. Oh, and did we mention that people pay good money to see us do these things? You really should be impressed! Oh, and by the way, this is what I think about such and such.
On the other hand, usually, we are much less impressed with regular Joes – custodians, mechanics…school bus drivers(?), and any number of others. Now I’m not totally ruling out entertainers from having wisdom any more than regular Joes having a corner on the wisdom market.
First and foremost, God and His Word should be at the core of our search for wisdom. James, the brother of Jesus and early leader of the Jerusalem church said,
But the wisdom from above is first pure [morally and spiritually undefiled], then peace-loving [courteous, considerate], gentle, reasonable [and willing to listen], full of compassion and good fruits. It is unwavering, without [self-righteous] hypocrisy [and self-serving guile]. James 3:17 AMP
If we personified the bald eagle and the turkey, doesn’t what James had to say sound a bit more like a turkey?
Regardless, let’s put God first and then consider what those who consider themselves to be His followers have to share, always holding up their words against His.
Paul sums it up pretty well in Colossians 2:8,
See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception [pseudo-intellectual babble], according to the tradition [and musings] of mere men, following the elementary principles of this world, rather than following [the truth—the teachings of] Christ. AMP
May 10th, 2022, Tues, 7:41 pm
