Refuge in God

Good Morning,

Psalm 118:9 (KJV)
It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in princes.
Psalm 118:9 (MSG)
Far better to take refuge in God
than trust in people;
Far better to take refuge in God
than trust in celebrities.

I read this verse of Scripture and thought to myself, "Duh! Well of course! Who in the world wouldn't believe in this?"

Know what my next thoughts were? Okay, you know I'm going to tell you! I thought of the grocery store, to be honest. Pretty benign place, don't you think? But the picture I saw in my mind was of the check out lane. And, not the check out lane specifically, but the "magazines" (trash? rags?) that lined both sides of that check out lane. I pictured what I'd seen many times...people waiting there for the slow moving belt to get on with its business and their eyes perusing the pictures and stories of celebrities and the famous and the infamous. All right, one might say, but those are people of the world, not my Christian brothers and sisters. Really?

How many times have we been in a gathering of people, of church people, and overheard conversations about Elvis and his lifestyle and the "tragedy" of his death? How many times have we observed folks, again church folks, talking about the latest Oprah program and how "wonderful" she is to be doing all she does? Well, I don't think it's necessary to go on and on with specifics on this. Point made, I think...and point taken, I believe.

Where do we look? Who do we admire?

Think about it. Too often our eyes, ears, and minds drift away from God, away from Jesus, and onto people, celebrities and what they are involved in and their lives. How sad. That we so often lift people up and place them on pedestals that they simply do not earn or deserve.

Simply put, we spend entirely too much time and money paying attention to "celebrities" and the "rich and famous." Way too much of both.

What to do about it? Pretty simple really. Make up our minds to think about something else when we catch ourselves wondering about which celebrity is involved with some other celebrity. Replace thoughts of people of no real consequence with thoughts of God. Easy to do? Nope, it's not. But, with practice and some effort, we can succeed in it. Hey! Turning off the television wouldn't hurt either!

Yes, this Christian life does take some effort, doesn't it? The good news about the effort? It is so worth it!!!

Love, peace, and blessings,

David