Devotion for the Week of May 12, 2008
“Survival of the Fittest”
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8-9
We have a beloved dog named Sam who will turn 14 at the end of this month. That’s around 84 in people years and poor Sam is showing his age. According to one pessimistic vet he was supposed to have died over two years ago, but he’s still here. He is deaf, too skinny, severely balding, missing numerous teeth, likes to sleep for most of the day, and walks with bad limps on both back legs and one front leg. And, he has attitude!
In his younger days he loved to chase the squirrels that run around in our back yard. A couple times he came within inches of getting one. He gave up the chase a couple years ago and just watches with a look of bored tolerance as they run around frolicking in our back yard.
While most people hate squirrels, I have pampered them. I bought them their own squirrel food and set it out regularly. We have the largest, laziest squirrels I have ever seen. I knew I had taken the pampering thing too far when one day I looked out and a squirrel was laying on its back on the pillow of our hammock, just chillin.’ There was iced lemonade in a glass with a cute umbrella straw on the table beside it, and I believe it was reading a miniature copy of Pride & Prejudice!
A couple Saturdays ago we had to rush Sam to the Emergency Vet. He had fallen over on his side, and when we stood him back up, he fell again. Of course, as it is with some “emergencies,” by the time we got him to the vet he was back to normal. The doctor prescribed a pain medication and sent us on our way.
We have kept a closer eye on Sam since the vet visit, so you can imagine our concern when we looked for him one afternoon and couldn’t find him anywhere. After several minutes, my daughter and I found him in the back yard. At first we thought he was just sniffing around, but when we looked closer, he had a squirrel in his mouth! I won’t go into the gorry details of those next minutes…let’s just say pandemonium broke out. There was a lot of screaming, shoes were thrown in an attempt to get Sam to drop the squirrel, we yelled for help from my husband who was on a conference call for work, and when Sam finally gave it up, I nearly became sick to my stomach. So much for “survival of the fittest.”
Sam defied human “logic” (and that squirrel’s “logic,” too!) when he managed to finally get it. So it is with God. As He proclaims in His word, “…my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways.” His thoughts and ways defy human “logic.”
Human “logic” proclaims “survival of the fittest” as a way to be successful in life. God’s way proclaims “But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first”(Matthew 19:30), and “Blessed are the meek for they will inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5).
Human “logic” tells us we have the right to control our lives and live as we please. God’s thoughts say “If you love me, you will obey what I command” (John 14:15).
Human “logic” (particularly American logic) says we are to spend our lives accumulating stuff, while God’s way says “…the righteous give without sparing” (Proverbs 21:26b).
Human “logic” says there are many ways to God and we can believe whatever we want to believe. God says “It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead…Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:10b, 12) and “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life…Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son” (John 3:16, 18).
Human “logic” says there is no God. God’s thoughts say “The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”" (Psalm 14:1b).
What are you setting your wisdom by? What rules do you use to guide how you live your life?…The world’s “logic” or God’s higher ways and thoughts? Just as that squirrel falsely relied on “survival of the fittest,” so too, we can falsely rely on faulty human logic. The result will be just as tragic.
Father,
We thank You for Your Truth , for Your thoughts and ways, that You have given through Your Word, the Bible. Give us the humbleness and wisdom to read it, send Your Holy Spirit to allow it to speak to us, and give us the courage to follow Your perfect ways. Let us not lean on our own understanding and logic, but on Your Truth.
In Your son’s precious name, Jesus, Amen.