Although I do not watch vast amounts of television, I find myself drawn to certain types of programming. The main networks have little to offer me in terms of viewing. Our cheap little TV package has a channel where I frequent when I do watch... the Science Channel. By no means do the programs that speak of our "origin" draw me (as a side note, have you noticed how many of those are beginning to dramatize what their theories are to make them more believable?), but rather those more on the side of engineering and how things are made. I recall recently one show that spoke of an engineering nightmare. Nearly a hundred years ago, one man designed a suspension bridge in California that was very pliable and swayed in the wind in order to prevent being blown over in the high winds in the area. The film cut to a shot of the bridge swaying so much that even the most experienced sea captain would be seasick. Even if physics is not your specialty, if you have ever played with a paper clip or other piece of metal, you know that if you continue to bend it over and over again, the metal will heat up and then suddenly break. Well, this one windstorm broke the paper clip. Fortunately, only one person was killed when it finally gave. This man had faith in his engineering; however, the the object of his trust was in error.
The Bible says there is nothing new under the sun. For millennia, people have been buying the same lie over and over again. It was true with the Jews, and it is true still today. An oft propagated lie is that it doesn't matter what you believe as long as you are sincere in your faith. The truth is, if what you believe is false, it doesn't become true by believing it with more fervor. This engineer believed that his theory of bridge-making was sound, but that in which he placed his trust- and believed enough to put others lives on the line- was flawed from the beginning. Paul addresses this same principle in his letter to the Romans. "Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness. Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes." (Romans 10:1-4)
You see the Jews trusted not in the grace of the God who was Holy to save them, rather they placed their trust in following His laws and regulations. Even with instructions and warnings throughout the Old Testament, they still missed it. They continued to build their bridges with flawed engineering.
Today, we still trust in things that have proven to fail time and time again: money, jobs, politicians, other people. We, like the bridge engineer, could learn much from Jesus' parable of the two builders. On what we build is vitally important. If our foundation is sound, our lives will remain intact. However, if our "engineering" is flawed, our bridges will buckle. Are your bridges shaky?
No comments:
Post a Comment