February 28, 2010
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Clamor Girl
Oh, to be chic and glamorous! I have this dream where I swoop into a room, head held high, stomach in, flawlessly attired, and not a hair out of place. Women seethe with envy, gentlemen leap to their feet and offer a chair, and I, like Princess Grace, smile regally, then sit down with knees together and slender feet crossed at the ankles. My gown is the latest fashion, spotless and wrinkle-free. When I speak my voice is soft but sure, and I do not stammer or hesitate.
I try to make this dream a reality. And while I probably could never be considered glamorous, at least I try to have my hair fixed and have on clean clothes when I go out. But somehow, I always manage to arrive looking like a pup who has been playing in the rain.
Last night we went to the business meeting at church, and it began to rain. By the time we got there, all the good parking places were taken and we had to walk quite a way. I had on my best white slacks, too. It would be understandable to get a few little mud spots on the bottoms, but when we entered the brightly lit room I discovered I had a big muddy smear on my stomach.
"Let it dry," my husband advised. "Then you can brush it off." I had to give my report before it dried. I knew everyone was looking at the mud, so I kept trying to hold pages over it, and I dropped some. When I bent down to pick them up, I bumped heads with the moderator who had bent down to help me.
"Does my girl feel grumpy?" my husband asked at breakfast the next day. I groaned.
"How can you love anybody who is so sloppy-so-overweight-so-klutzy?" I stormed.
"It's hard." He nooded with a grin. When I began to cry he hugged me.
"If I was all rolled up in bandages," he said, "And you couldn't see me, would you still love me?"
"Of course," I snapped. "It would still be you inside."
"Guess that answers your question." He kissed me. "I love the you inside."
from: Mab Groff Hoover
"The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." 1 Samuel 16
Most people wish that they look like those celebrities gracing those Style magazine covers, and those celebrities on the red carpet as they walk gracefully to enter the major events in their lives. We admire the gowns, their touched up faces and figures and, we either show our admiration or mock them with jealousy. People have the habit of looking at public figures from their outside appearances, their accomplishments and their humanitarian works, among other outside attractive and talented ways. Some even proclaim that those are God-given attributes.
But what can we say if we found out the absolute Truth that God doesn't admire or in awe or grasping for Joy about these popular public figures at all? The Truth is God looks into the hearts of His human creations. God is not amazed at burnt offerings offered to Him, but He is more concerned of our relationship with Him. Directly from God, He said that every human has a deceitful heart.
"The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?" Jeremiah 17:9
As explicitly explained in The Message, Jeremiah 17:9 reads: "The heart is hopelessly dark and deceitful, a puzzle that no one can figure out. But I, God, search the heart and examine the mind.
I get to the heart of the human. I get to the root of things. I treat them as they really are, not as they pretend to be.""The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time." Genesis 6:5
That's why God initiated a plan of a Savior that will cure our wicked and deceitful hearts. God gave Jesus to die on the cross for us sinners, so we can have a new heart and a mind obedient to God's absolute Truth. And when we face Him at Judgment Day, we are blameless.
Knowing God's Word of Truth and learning His Wisdom are the only answers to living a life full of Joy, Peace, God's Love, Forgiveness, Faithfulness, Mercy and more of God's attributes. Absolute Truth from God can set us free-- FREE indeed of heart's corruption, wickedness and deceitfulness. Jesus Christ is the giver of this Freedom.
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