God's Wisdom In A Nutshell

I’m sure most people have heard  the “Tortoise and the Hare” story- one of Aesops Fables . It depicts a rabbit and turtle in a race. We all think we know who will win the prize- whatever that may be- but we are surprised when the rabbit gets side tracked by his desire to nap and the turtle continues to slowly advance and overtake the hare.

As we all know the turtle wins the race by a  slow continuous effort towards the finish line. There was no cheating or aggrandizement, simply integrity, humility and slow consistent progression forward. Aesop’s moral was “the race is not always to the swift.”

We can take the moral of this fable and apply it to the life of a Jesus follower. The Lord puts limits on our life that slow the progress towards many of our goals- goals  like success, fame or fortune. Many people won’t like being a Jesus follower because it inhibits their “drive to the top,” slowing it down to a pace that seems boring, unexciting and limited. But actually the pace allows us time to seek the Lord.

“Seek first the Kingdom of God and all these things will be given unto you.”(Matt 6:33)

God desires that we take each season of our life- each turn in the road on the journey of  life- and focus wholly on it, enjoying it because each season is a blessing. We simply can’t be grateful if we are racing through each season pushing on to the next best thing.

Aesop stated “Gratitude and Greed cannot go together.”

The secular world tells us that the human potential is limitless, only limited by the price we are willing to pay to get what we want. What it doesn’t tell us is that anything we achieve outside the will of God will come to ashes.

“Beware, lest you lose the substance as you grasp at the shadows.” (Aesop)

God gives us free will to choose our own way or to choose a life based on His limits and guidelines which keep us safe, secure and out of the rat race. There is no striving to get anywhere or achieve anything because the striving was already done- the price was already paid. Born again Christians have arrived- at their place in the family of God as children of God, with the inheritance of God. Our job is to stay close to the Lord in order to learn, imitate and witness what a powerful life following the Lord truly is. The life lived within God’s guidelines is the ultimate tortoise and hare story.The lesson we all learn is something we often tell our children, “don’t be in a hurry to grow up.” In other words, don’t be in a hurry to get to the next step of life, because anything obtained outside the will of God will be lost.

• “For God will bring every work into judgment, 
  Including every secret thing, 
  Whether good or evil.”
• (Ecc 12:14)

Food For Thought,

Lisa