Daily Jewel

by Pastor J.T. Carnell, McAlester, OK
Aug. 23, 2011

“God’s Road Map to Life”
"Wisdom calls aloud in the street, she raises her voice in the public squares..." - Proverbs 1:20 (New International Version)

True understanding and knowledge of what is right is never far away. "It calls aloud..." as Solomon says. Meaning: It is not obscure or hidden but highly visible and more importantly, very available! Unfortunately many just close their eyes and their ears and refuse to hear what she has to say. They are “tuned-out” you might say. Or, they are not willing to read the map they have been given. Maps are great tools! People will spend hours and months, making certain that maps are properly marked with the correct road numbers. Why? So that those traveling those roads have the correct information in front of them, preventing them from getting lost – helping people reach their destination. If you have no idea how to get where you want or need to go - consult the map! Now here is where the problem arises…despite the availability of maps and the arrival of GPS systems – people continue to get lost. Call it pride, ignorance, or a combination of both – too many refuse to follow necessary directions. Many of us have one common destination...Eternity! Hebrews 9:27 says, “…man is destined to die once…” There are, however, so many diversions that the majority of those headed toward that destination are hopelessly lost! Wisdom (God’s Eternity Road Map) calls, yet many are so busy listening to so many other things they cannot hear! Or, what is even more destructive is they are following their own lead – refusing to seek directions. (Where have we heard that one before?) The following illustration shows what can happen when one refused to realize they needed a new direction. Andre-Francois Raffray was one who chose to follow his own lead. A retired lawyer in Arles, France, Raffray made what any reasonable businessman would say was a sound financial decision. According to the Chicago Tribune, for a five-hundred-dollar-a-month annuity, he bought the rights to take over an apartment in Arles, on the death of its current resident. The woman living in the apartment was Jeanne Calment, age ninety. Actuarial tables predicting the mathematical probabilities of Jeanne Calment's life span were clearly on the lawyer's side. Thirty years later and $180,000 poorer, Raffray had still not moved into the apartment. On Tuesday, February 21, 1995, Jeanne Calment celebrated her 120th birthday. She was verifiably the oldest person in the world. Each year on her birthday she would send Raffray a card that jokingly said, "Sorry, I am still alive!" Raffray died two weeks after Calment's 120th birthday. What are we listening to? What has our attention? What (or whose) “map” are we following? The voice of wisdom is calling…are we listening?
Pastor J. T. Carnell