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Monday, October 17, 2005
What Do Dr. Suess and Matthew 7 Have In Common?
It's an upbeat book. Most Dr. Suess books are. It's called Oh! The Places You'll Go!. Want proof?
"NO!
That's not for you!
Somehow you'll escape all that waiting and staying.
You'll find the bright places
where Boom Bands are playing.
With banner flip-flapping,
once more you'll ride high!
Ready for anything under the sky.
Ready because you're that kind of a guy!
Oh, the places you'll go! There's fun to be done!
There are points to be scored. There are games to be won.
And the magical things you can do with that ball
will make you the winningest winner of all.
Fame! You'll b famous as famous can be,
with the whole wide world watching you win on TV."
Sounds great, right? The book has lots of those inspirations in it.
But then Dr. Suess continues:
"Except when the don't.
Because, sometimes, they won't.
I'm afraid that some times
you'll play lonely games, too.
Games you can't win
'cause you'll play against you."
See, the book is a lot like life. Sure, in his book he's talking to graduates and how exciting it all is and all that jazz. But throughout the book he puts interludes like this in there. Things don't go right. You'll be happy to know that it turns out well in the end.
And Matthew 7: 24--27 is like that. It's at the end of the famous Sermon on the Mount...Jesus' revolutionary message. The one about the revolution not resulting in government overthrow but rather in heart overthrow. The revolution comes in our hearts and minds.
(from The Message)
"These words I speak to you are not incidental additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundational words, words to build a life on. If you work these words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who built his house on solid rock. Rain poured down, the rivere flooded, a tornado hit--but nothing moved in that house. It was fixed to the rock.
But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don't work them into your life, you are like a stupid carpenter who built his house on the sandy beach. When a storm rolled in and the waves came up, it collapsed like a house of cards."
The parallels are obvious, aren't they?
Dr. Suess: Life has it's ups and downs. You persevere in the end.
Jesus: Storms will hit both houses. Somebody's going to persevere...and it's the one who built his house on solid ground.
I heard a story one time that used the line, "You don't get hit by a train you see coming down the tracks." Well, you could, I suppose. But it would be because your own foolishness.
And the reality is that in our lives, storms are going to hit.
So, for today, why is it that so many people are unprepared for the storms?
Brent 7:04 AM
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