A couple of weeks ago, I drug my
poor husband to see the new Julia Roberts movie, Eat, Pray, Love, based on a book by the same name. Since I had read
the book and like Julia Roberts, I really wanted to see the movie. I knew Brad
was in trouble when we entered the theater and we were surrounded by lots of
sweet white haired ladies and one or two of their husbands. He was a good
sport, as usual, and we settled in.
After watching Julia look for
happiness and peace by eating her way through Italy and worshiping her guru in
India, Brad poked me and asked if it was ever going to end. Meanwhile, I was
squirming around in my seat trying to get comfortable on my bad hip, wondering
the same!
The
movie did come to a conclusion, Julia found love in Bali, and I have been
thinking about it off and on ever since. I won’t bore you with all the details,
but, in my opinion, it all boiled down to the struggle between earthly wisdom
and heavenly wisdom. Our pastor has been preaching a series in the book of
James and a couple of weeks ago spoke about just that struggle. Why do we
listen to man trying to tell the world the right way to do things?
It only takes a nanosecond to look
around and see the emotional and physical results of trying to do things man’s
way. The whole notion of political correctness is the perfect example of the
mess we can get ourselves into when we do things man’s way.
Addictions to drugs, food, sex,
video games, pornography, the internet.
Dead-beat dads, moms who don’t put
their kids first, abortions, stressed out families, financial burdens, me-first
thinking.
Feelings of unhappiness, being unfulfilled,
worshipping created things instead of the Creator.
What has happened to us?
The Job
28: 12-28 has advice about wisdom….true wisdom. I implore you to read the whole
thing, but verses 12, 13, and 28 sum it up pretty well.
“But
where can wisdom be found? Where does understanding dwell? Man does not
comprehend its worth; it cannot be found in the land of the living. The fear of
the Lord-that is wisdom, and to shun evil is understanding.” Hmmmm.
I hope
one day I get to travel to Italy and feast on authentic Italian food. I would
like to go to India on a mission trip, and Bali would be a delightful
destination, but I don’t need to go to these places in search of the meaning of
life. I can find that in the pages of my Bible, in conversations with my
heavenly Father, and in living in community with my other brothers and sisters
in Christ at Scott Avenue Christian Church.
