Head inthe sand?

Ostriches are amazing flightless birds that have been clocked as running 43 MPH.  They have some quirks, one leading to the idiom bury your head in the sand which means to ignore or hide from obvious signs of danger.  It alludes to an ostrich, which is believed incorrectly to hide it’s head in a hole in the ground when it sees danger.  Actually  when lying down and hiding from predators, the birds lay their heads and necks flat on the ground, making them appear like a mound of earth from a distance, aided by the heat haze in their hot, dry habitat. This defensive behavior of lying low makes them appear from a distance to have their head buried.

As I soaked in the tub last night, I was reading was a history book written by Christians about the times just before and during JESUS CHRIST’s life.  Graphic details they gave triggered thoughts that were not good.  So I gave those thoughts to GOD, shut the book and I am taking it back to the library.  Today I opened an email from a dear, dear friend and it contained slurs about people that although may be true, at least in part, directed my thoughts where they should not go, to think and act by human standards and not GOD’s.  So I deleted the email.

Many will call me closed minded or burying my head in the sand.  Actually, I am just following GOD’s instructions that I found in the Bible.

And GOD honored that by confirming my choices to shut the book and then delete the email as I read HIS words in Matthew 6:22,23 about how the eye is the lamp that gives light to the body.  If what I look at/ think about (take in and mull over) is pure (undefiled) then I will have all the light I need to see clearly and show me the way I should go.  But if what I look at/ think about is defiled by human standards and values, I am in total darkness.  

The word all in those verses for both cases shook me for a moment.  Just a little bit of human standard defilement brings in darkness/ clouds things so much, throwing off my perspective that I don’t know the right way to go.  Must be why GOD urges us not to be conformed to this world but to be transformed (metamorphisized-  you know like to change from a caterpillar to a butterfly) by the renewing of our minds so that we may test and approve the good, acceptable and (not or) perfect will of GOD.

That really shows how important what we focus on is.  We need to recognize bad, but focus on good. 

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 1807-1882 gave a brilliant example: "And in despair I bowed my head: 'There is no peace on earth', I said. For hate is strong, and mocks the song of 'peace on earth, good will to men.' Yet pealed the bells more loud and deep. 'God is not dead, nor doth He sleep. The wrong shall fail, the right prevail, with peace on earth, good will to men.'" –

So where do you, do I go to get our perspective?  Is it the wisdom of this world or the wisdom hidden in CHRIST that we choose to live by? As for me I choose to live by the wisdom found in GOD's word.

Hugs

Sharon