Photo by, Thomas Nugent
https://www.geograph.org.uk/profile/4827
I often
listen to, “The Bible Study Podcast,” by Chris Christensen. I enjoy having
someone read the Bible to me and he gives very interesting commentaries.
His program
has been on for a few years, so I go back and listen to those older ones too.
The one I am listening to now is the book of Proverbs.
Proverbs’
main theme is getting wisdom from God. God calls out wisdom to the world. He
shouts to the world what is right and what is wrong. Many times, he says that
if you choose the wrong path, you will pay for it in your life. Your own
foolishness will bring disaster upon yourself.
It is so
easy to see that happening in the world and in our families. Perhaps someone we
are close to makes a terrible decision; everyone around them can see what they
are doing is bound to end in heartache. Yet they won’t listen to advice; they
are determined to do what their emotions tell them to do.
But the
wonderful thing about God is that he gives us the freedom to do that. We can
choose the wrong path, and sometimes we will learn from our mistakes that God
was right all along. We can look back at our bad decisions and realize we need
God’s help. And he is so quick to receive and forgive us.
Mr. Christensen
said, “It is wise to learn from our own mistakes; but it is even better to
learn from the mistakes of others.”
I like what
he said. I remember when I was a teenager in the 1960s and drugs were flooding
California. I was curious about these drugs. I smoked pot and liked it a lot. I
liked it far better than even beer. It didn’t make you sick, angry or stupid –
it was just fun.
Then LSD and
Speed came to our school. Lots of people I knew were doing these drugs, but I
was leery. My parents used to buy Time and Newsweek and I read the articles on
what Speed did to people and how some had died. I had a dear friend from school
who got hooked on Speed and his life was ruined. When Art Linkletter’s daughter
jumped from the window of a high building when she was on LSD, it horrified me.
I learned from these people’s mistakes.
My high
school did a wonderful thing; they had us all watch a movie about a man
who was hooked on heroin. His life was so awful that I was never tempted to try
heroin either. I learned from his life.
It is good
to pray for wisdom. In my life, I have let my emotions rule me far too much. I can see
how much I needed wisdom then and need it now. Maybe if we look carefully at
ourselves and realize we are making a decision based on our emotions, then that
could be a warning signal for us.
It is kind
of scary when we want to do something to say to God, “I’m giving this to you.
If you don’t want me to do it, then let me know. I know you only do what is
best for my life.” It is hard to give control over our lives to someone else,
even if that someone is God. But I know from experience that his path leads to
great peace and happiness.
