Fool Aware

A few weeks ago in Alaska, a man and his dog were hiking when the dog spotted a bear cub. The border collie chased the cub away, but mamma was not pleased. She went after the hiker, bit him a couple times before she gave up and went on her way. Bear attacks are rare because bears generally will avoid people if they can help it, but they have limits. Messing with her cub is one of mamma bear's limits. Earlier this summer, I preached a meeting out west, and much to the dismay of my boys (and the joy of my wife) we didn't see any bears in our travels. But I did see a lot of fools doing foolish things and that's more terrifying. Proverbs 17:12 says, "Let a bear robbed of her whelps meet a man, rather than a fool in his folly." Since I was heading into grizzly country I read up on some helpful literature from the Forestry Service on being "Grizzly Bear Aware". The Bible has good information about being "fool aware."

Folly is being ridiculous, absurd, and frankly, stupid. Coming back home, we stopped at a National Park for a few hours and went for a hike on a pretty famous trail. It has a beautiful view at the end, but a tad perilous in places. Just past a sign on the path that said, "Dangerous Cliff. Keep Right," a group of impatient teenagers, who thought we were walking too slow, passed us on the left (the side with the dangerous cliff) and jumped off a rock to get around us. One girl slipped when she landed, but was able to get her traction before she plummeted to her death. I passed erratic drivers texting on their phones while driving 90 MPH. I saw people shooting off fireworks in the middle of a drought, in the middle of a dry-as-bones prairie.

God made the world and the world operates according to God's rules. Folly is when you act contrary to or in defiance of God's world. Jumping off a roof is dumb, because in God's world, there is gravity. When silly people act without considering the consequences, or without wisdom, you get a dangerous situation. Most sane people know better than to get in the way of a bear and her cubs, but don't know better than to get in the way of God and His prophets (2 Kings 2:22-24). Sinning is also dumb, because in God's world, there are consequences for breaking his moral laws too. Many cultivate common sense, but not spiritual sense. We warn teenagers about texting and driving, but don't consider where they are going or who they are texting. We caution Jonah to wear a life jacket to stay safe, but not to consider the danger of rebelling against God.

I made it back to West Virginia without any bear encounters, but plenty of fool sightings. I was in much more danger of the fool than the bear.

Mice and Men

"What do you want to do when you grow up?" I never liked that question as a child because I never thought of having a job as being something that anyone wanted to do. I wanted to play center field for the Cincinnati Reds, or be a fighter pilot, or herd cattle in the Old West. But since that wasn't going to happen, I had no idea how to answer the question. It always seemed to me like such a grave matter, a question with such finality that if you answered the question, your fate was sealed and your destiny was fixed. Once you started down that road, you could never turn back.

But often in our lives, even if we know what we want to do, the best laid plans go awry. Life doesn't always turn out like you hope. Proverbs 20:24 says, "Man's goings are of the LORD; how can a man then understand his own way?" The Christian must always live for the glory of God and commit our ways to the Saviour, and trust in his providence. We can plan, but since our steps are of the Lord and our goings are ordained by God, we can't really correctly predict how our life is going to turn out.

I read of a man who was most likely asked to leave the military because he had a drinking problem. His plan was to retire as an officer, but now out of military life, he was directionless and just couldn't seem to get his life in gear. To support his family, he started selling firewood on the street corner. His life certainly wasn't going the way he planned. Through a series of events totally out of his control and a helping hand from an acquaintance, he was given another shot in the Army. This time he did better and worked his way up the ladder. His name was Ulysses S. Grant and he eventually served as the 18th president of the United States.

Living with the understanding that our goings are of the Lord comforts the soul when life seems spiraling out of control, because in reality, God is in directs our lives. Especially when life is hard and we don't understand. Work to achieve your goals in life, but learn to roll with the punches. This truth gives us direction, as we should be more concerned with our the state of our soul. Our plans change, our lives may be drastically different from our plan, but the Lord never changes. No matter what state we find ourselves in, we can still live for God's glory. The answer to "what do you want to be when you grow up," is, for God's people, "I want to be holy, as my Father is holy. I want to be a follower of Jesus Christ. I want to be wise, understanding the will of the Lord. I want to be a doer of the Word, not just a hearer."

A Different Kind of Victory

If I scored zero in a round of golf, I'd be thrilled. If my final score was zero in a game of basketball, I'll be embarrassed. The victors score looks different, depending on the rules of the contest. Most would agree in a fight to the death, the person left standing is the winner, but here too, it depends on the judge. In Revelation 15:2, there are saints of God in Heaven, who have "gotten victory over the beast." They were in heaven, instead of the earth, because they stood against the beast and were put to death. They refused to worship the false god, take the mark of the antichrist and for their stand, they were executed. And God called them victorious.

Revelation 13:11-18 tells us more about the power the beast has over the world. Anyone who does not take the mark is restricted from participating in society, they can not buy nor sell. Rich or poor, powerful or weak, free or in bondage, it doesn't matter, you take the mark and worship the beast. If not, you die. These faithful few stand refusing to worship the beast. Having their eyes opened by the Spirit of God, turning from their sin to trust only in Christ Jesus, they refused to bow to worship an idol god, even if it costs their life.

From earth, people will see what happened and will be afraid of following suite. They will participate because they don't want to die. All they have to do is take the mark. All they have to do is bow down and worship the image and they live to fight another day. A win, right? How foolish for these people to stand for Christ and get put to death, for what? What did they gain? Think of all the good they could have done. That's the perspective from the Earth. It looks a little different in Heaven. The martyrs lost their lives and immediately were in the presence of the Lord. They didn't lose their battle with the antichrist, they won. All the enemy could do in his persecution, is chase them up to Heaven. If we are worldly minded then we can only think of worldly victories. But the heavenly minded person sees the real battle and by faith knows what victory looks like. As the persecutor put their mortal bodies in the ground, he believed he was ridding himself of his opposition, so naturally, he was winning. But in reality, it was the martyrs who won. God has a different type of scorecard.

They are the victors. Not in a metaphorical way. Not just some sentimental words to comfort those who remain. They overcame the wicked one by the blood of the Lamb, declaring the gospel of Christ, that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ's work alone. They did not gain victory through their own death, but "they loved not their lives unto death," (Revelation 12:11). Faith was the victory that overcame.