Participants:
Series Code: AU
Program Code: AU000073S
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00:01 - There's just no question about it.
00:02 Your ancestors were completely right 00:05 when they told you life is hard, 00:07 but what if you're actually making it harder 00:09 than it needs to be? 00:11 That's our topic on today's edition of "Authentic." 00:14 [gentle upbeat music] 00:35 There's something I've been living with for decades now, 00:37 and that's the fact that I've got some dead friends. 00:41 Now, I know everybody's got dead friends, 00:44 and the longer you live, the more likely it becomes 00:46 that you're just going to lose somebody. 00:48 So I know I'm not alone, 00:50 but some of the friends I lost, 00:52 well, it happened way too young. 00:54 I mean, I'm talking about people who didn't survive 00:56 their 20s and probably should have. 00:59 These are young, tragic deaths. 01:01 And there's just something extra heartbreaking 01:04 about a young death because it seems so out of the ordinary. 01:08 It's not the pattern that most of us expect. 01:11 What we expect is for old people to die 01:13 after living a long, full life, 01:15 even though not as many people manage 01:17 to accomplish that as you might think. 01:19 Here in the United States, it seems like Americans 01:22 between the ages of 15 and 24 are twice as likely to die 01:26 as their counterparts in other developed nations 01:28 like Germany, France, or Japan. 01:31 Back in 2019, prior to the pandemic, 01:34 almost 60,000 Americans under 25 years of age died, 01:38 and out of those roughly 21,000 were infants. 01:42 40% of deaths among young people between the ages 01:45 of 15 and 19 were due to murder or suicide. 01:49 And of course, it probably comes as no surprise 01:51 to most people that men are more likely to die young 01:55 than women are because of our appetite for risky behavior. 01:59 And as a minister, I've got to say 02:01 that when a young person dies, 02:03 the funeral becomes that much more difficult 02:06 because it just seems, well, so much more tragic. 02:10 Of course, the first funeral mentioned in the Bible 02:12 was conducted by parents who had to bury their son. 02:16 But still, there's just something about a young death 02:19 that seems completely out of place. 02:22 Of course, nobody's death feels right. 02:25 We can tell ourselves all we want, 02:27 that death is just a natural part of the circle of life, 02:29 but there's something essential, something fundamental 02:33 in our hearts that refuses to accept that idea. 02:36 I mean, you can apply your logic to this 02:38 and remind yourself that everybody dies, 02:41 and so you are going to lose some loved ones. 02:44 But somehow when those bills finally come due, 02:47 the pain of loss suddenly overrides rationality, 02:50 and it just plain hurts. 02:52 And when the grave takes somebody young, 02:54 well, the sense that we've all been cheated 02:56 seems really sharp. 02:59 When we lose somebody young, it seems more horrific 03:02 because this is someone who never really got to start living 03:05 in the first place. 03:07 And that was the situation with some of the friends 03:09 that I lost early on. 03:11 I'm especially thinking of one guy today. 03:13 I'll call him Peter, who burned to death 03:16 in a tragic car wreck. 03:18 And another friend, I'll call him Daniel, 03:20 who committed suicide during a family dinner, 03:23 where he excused himself from the table and never came back. 03:27 These were terrible stories, 03:29 profound losses that really hurt 03:30 because they seemed so unnecessary. 03:33 And in Peter's case, the unbelievable stress 03:35 of losing their son took a very heavy toll 03:39 on his parents' marriage. 03:41 These kinds of things are just too costly 03:43 for most people's emotional budgets, 03:45 and in a lot of ways it destroyed his parents' lives too. 03:49 You know, I'm suddenly reminded of that scene in the Bible 03:51 where David suddenly finds out that his son 03:53 has been killed in battle. 03:55 And it's an exceptionally heart-wrenching scene 03:57 because his son died at complete odds with him. 04:01 The boy had been staging a rebellion trying to seize control 04:04 of his father's kingdom. 04:06 And by rights, the king's troops really had every right 04:09 to kill him. 04:10 But still, it's David's son and he loves him. 04:13 Now, most of you know the story. 04:14 Absalom, the son, was a rather vain young man 04:17 who had a reputation for being really good looking. 04:20 And he sported a magnificent mane of hair, 04:23 which in those days was often considered 04:26 to be a sign of virility or strength. 04:28 He was the model warrior. 04:31 But it turns out that his hair was also his undoing 04:34 because one day as he was riding under a tree, 04:37 his hair got caught in the branches 04:39 and it pulled him off his mule 04:40 and left him hanging in the air, 04:42 which made him an easy target for a man named Joab, 04:46 the commander of the king's army, 04:48 who of course killed the boy when he found him. 04:51 It's one of the most heartbreaking stories in the Bible 04:53 because, well, there's no good solution here. 04:57 Absalom had to die because he'd become a serious threat 05:00 to the peace and safety of the kingdom. 05:02 And just letting him live probably would've resulted 05:05 in untold pain and misery for an awful lot of people. 05:09 And yet it's still the king's son. 05:13 And this is where David gives us a remarkable glance 05:15 into the heart of God because He has also endured 05:18 a rebellion that's been perpetrated 05:20 by the very people He made in His image. 05:23 In fact, our foolish attempt to free ourselves from God 05:27 eventually led to the brutal murder of God's only son. 05:30 I mean, we executed him on a Roman cross. 05:34 But the amazing thing is we still find a God 05:38 who actually mourns when you and I are touched 05:40 by the ravages of death. 05:42 And it's not the way that a lot of people talk about God 05:45 as if He's some kind of arbitrary tyrant 05:47 who can't wait to be rid of the human race. 05:51 So listen to what the Bible says about David at the moment 05:54 when he discovers that his beautiful son Absalom is dead. 05:58 I think I'll start reading in 2 Samuel 8:28, 06:01 where a messenger named Ahimaaz suddenly arrives 06:04 at David's house. 06:06 It says: So Ahimaaz called out and said to the king, 06:09 "All is well." 06:11 Then he bowed down with his face to the earth 06:12 before the king and said, 06:14 "Blessed be the Lord your God, 06:16 who has delivered up the men 06:17 who raised their hand against my lord the king." 06:21 So here we've got this guy who delivers good news 06:24 to the palace. 06:25 The rebellion has been squashed and the kingdom is secure. 06:29 So you'd expect the king to breathe a deep sigh of relief. 06:32 But listen to what he says in verse 29. 06:35 The king said, "Is the young man Absalom safe?" 06:41 It's not the security of his kingdom that takes center stage 06:43 at this point in the story, it's the security of his boy. 06:47 And of course, Absalom is already dead 06:49 and he has to be dead because there was no other choice. 06:52 He wasn't about to repent, 06:54 he wasn't about to change his mind 06:55 and support his father's administration, 06:58 and he was always going to be a problem. 07:01 So the commander who killed him didn't have a choice. 07:04 He had to stop this dangerous boy 07:06 and he had to do it permanently. 07:10 And of course, the king understands that intellectually, 07:13 but still we're talking about his boy, 07:15 a young man made in the image of the king. 07:17 And the father loves him deeply in spite of the pain 07:19 that he's caused. 07:21 And so when David receives confirmation 07:23 that Absalom is gone, this is what happens next. 07:28 We stop to take a break because I've run out of time, 07:30 but I'll be right back after this. 07:33 [logo swooshes] 07:36 - [Narrator] Dragons, beasts, cryptic statues, 07:41 Bible prophecy can be incredibly vivid and confusing. 07:45 If you've ever read Daniel a revelation 07:47 and come away scratching your head, you are not alone. 07:50 Our free focus on prophecy guides are designed 07:53 to help you unlock the mysteries of the Bible 07:55 and deepen your understanding of God's plan for you 07:58 and our world. 08:00 Study online or request them by mail 08:02 and start bringing prophecy into focus today. 08:06 [gentle music] 08:08 - [Narrator] There is a place so still 08:11 [gentle music] 08:15 you can almost hear your imagination. 08:18 [gentle music] 08:26 So free, 08:27 [gentle music] 08:29 your spirits can soar. 08:32 [gentle music] 08:35 So vast, 08:36 [gentle music] 08:39 it needs to be explored. 08:41 [gentle music] 08:49 So high, 08:50 [gentle music] 08:52 you can touch the clouds. 08:55 [gentle music] 08:57 A place called Discovery Mountain. 09:03 [gentle music] 09:07 - Just before the break, we were talking about Absalom, 09:10 a talented and charismatic young man who was cut down 09:13 in the prime of his youth 09:14 because he'd become a serious threat 09:16 to the stability of his father's kingdom. 09:19 And when you find yourself faced with this choice 09:21 between saving everybody or preserving your own boy, 09:25 oh, I'm just glad I don't have to make 09:27 that kind of decision. 09:28 It's a story that runs parallel to the story 09:31 of the great conflict that emerges in God's universe 09:33 when a considerable segment of the creation 09:36 stages a selfish rebellion 09:38 that threatens everybody's wellbeing. 09:41 It's a really serious problem. 09:43 David knows that if his beloved son is never going to change 09:46 and he's going to destroy the peace and safety of everybody 09:49 if he isn't stopped, well, there's no choice there anymore. 09:53 Absalom had to go. 09:54 It was the only solution to the problem. 09:57 But then when David the king suddenly gets the news 09:59 of Absalom's death, I want you to pay attention 10:01 to what he does. 10:03 The Bible says: Then the king was deeply moved, 10:06 and went up to the chamber over the gate and wept. 10:09 And as he went, he said, thus, 10:11 "O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom. 10:14 If only I had died in your place. 10:16 O Absalom my son, my son." 10:20 The boy had made his father's life a living hell. 10:23 But I want you to notice there's not even a hint 10:26 of good riddance on David's part or he had it coming. 10:30 There's just the broken heart of a father 10:31 grieving for his boy. 10:33 And I'm convinced that the story is included in the Bible 10:36 for a reason because it gives us a glimpse 10:39 into the heart and mind of God himself. 10:42 I mean, the way some people talk about God, 10:44 you'd think that He's just like a Greek deity 10:46 on Mount Olympus hurling lightning bolts 10:49 at anybody who happens to rub His fur the wrong way. 10:52 It's a story we've been telling ourselves 10:54 for a really long time, these tales of a vengeful, 10:57 hateful God who can't wait to get rid of us. 11:01 But then you open the Bible and you find God 11:03 using this horrible tragedy, 11:05 the death of a king's beloved son, 11:07 to help us understand what He really feels like. 11:10 "As I live," God says in Ezekiel 33, 11:13 "I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, 11:16 but that the wicked would turn from his way and live. 11:19 Turn, turn from your evil ways. 11:21 For why should you die, O house of Israel." 11:25 The story of Absalom might be one of the best doors to open 11:28 when we're wrestling with some of the hardest questions 11:30 that come from studying the Bible. 11:33 For example, consider the conquest of Canaan 11:36 and the order that God gave to His people to go 11:39 and completely annihilate some of the people 11:41 who were living there. 11:43 For some of us it looks like a brutal case 11:45 of senseless genocide. 11:47 It seems like people are being slaughtered 11:49 just because of their ethnic identity. 11:52 We start to compare that to the cruel slaughter 11:55 of the Armenians at the beginning of the 20th century, 11:57 or the atrocities perpetrated against Tutsis 12:01 at the end of the 20th century. 12:04 We read a story like that and we begin to suspect 12:07 that God must be some kind of cruel despot. 12:10 But today I wanna suggest 12:12 that you can only come to that conclusion 12:14 if you don't read the whole story. 12:17 What we have in the pages of the Bible is a very detailed 12:20 character study of an infinite God. 12:23 And of course, because He's infinite, 12:24 we're always going to struggle to understand Him. 12:28 When it comes to grasping the infinite, 12:31 you and I are kind of like a garden slug 12:33 trying to understand the sounds of a Beethoven symphony. 12:36 We're just not that well-equipped to contemplate 12:39 an eternal God. 12:41 But still, there's enough detail in this Bible 12:44 to help me realize that I'm probably wrong 12:47 when I'm tempted to think of God 12:48 as some kind of unforgiving tyrant, 12:50 some kind of cruel dictator. 12:53 I mean, just consider one of the most famous verses 12:55 in the Bible where it says: 12:57 "For God so loved the world 13:00 that He gave His only begotten Son." 13:04 What we find in this book is a God who loves us 13:06 in spite of what we've done to Him, 13:08 in spite of the way that we've made an utter garbage dump 13:11 of His creation. 13:12 And that His love for us runs so deep 13:15 that He was willing to give up His own son to save us. 13:19 I mean, when Absalom ended hanging from a tree, 13:23 everybody knew he had it coming. 13:24 It was the just reward for his rebellion. 13:27 But then we see the spotless son of God, 13:29 a perfectly innocent man also hanging from a tree, 13:34 and it boggles the mind. 13:35 I mean, how do we explain that? 13:38 Really the best way to read the Bible 13:40 is just to gather all the evidence. 13:42 Our human nature assumes that God must hate us 13:45 for what we've done, 13:47 but that's not what the weight 13:48 of the biblical evidence suggests. 13:50 I mean, not at all. 13:52 What this book shows us is an utterly heartbroken father 13:55 who mourns over the death of his child. 13:58 Now, I know I'm not gonna be able to settle this completely 14:01 for a lot of people, 14:02 but let me just show you a passage that the skeptics 14:04 usually skip when they talk about God's command 14:07 for Israel to remove the Canaanites from the land. 14:11 I mean, a lot of critics have no problem quoting 14:14 God's command to do that, 14:16 but for some reason they breeze right past the reason 14:18 that He gives. 14:20 Just listen to what it says in Deuteronomy 20, 14:22 starting in verse 18. 14:24 God tells the Israelites to destroy these tribes, quote, 14:27 "...lest they teach you to do 14:29 according to all their abominations, 14:31 which they have done for their gods." 14:34 So of course, we should probably ask 14:35 what these abominations were 14:37 because in light of centuries of really bad thinking 14:40 about God and some really unfortunate Christian preaching, 14:44 we tend to harbor the sneaking suspicion 14:46 that maybe the crimes of the Canaanites 14:48 weren't really all that bad. 14:50 But a few chapters earlier, 14:52 God explains exactly what these people were doing 14:54 that brought 'em to the point of decision. 14:57 It says in chapter 12, 14:58 "When the Lord your God cuts off from before you the nations 15:02 which you go to dispossess, and you displace them, 15:05 dwell in their land, take heed to yourself 15:08 that you are not ensnared to follow them 15:10 after they are destroyed from before you, 15:12 and that you do not inquire after their gods saying, 15:15 'How did these nations serve their gods? 15:17 I also will do likewise.'" 15:19 And here comes the seldom quoted but rather disturbing part. 15:23 It says, "You shall not worship the Lord your God 15:27 in that way. 15:28 For every abomination to the Lord which He hates 15:30 they have done to their gods, 15:32 for they burn even their sons and daughters 15:34 in the fire to their gods." 15:37 The Canaanites were performing human sacrifice. 15:41 We're talking about people who were willing to burn 15:43 their own children to death 15:44 in order to appease their twisted gods. 15:47 And historically, some people believed 15:49 that these horrific religious rituals were often combined 15:52 with, well, I'll just say rather disturbing sex acts, 15:56 which included children. 15:57 And you know there comes a point where if somebody 16:00 isn't going to change and they don't wanna change, 16:03 you've got no choice but to put an end to it. 16:07 Now, I understand a lot of people wanna believe 16:09 that there must have been some other way. 16:11 Maybe there could have been an educational program 16:13 to convince them that burning your children to death 16:15 in the arms of a steel idol is wrong. 16:18 Maybe they could have been influenced 16:19 by their new God-fearing neighbors to change their ways 16:21 and start to value their kids. 16:24 Maybe God could have... 16:25 Well, we can get really creative 16:27 when we want to find some reason God must be wrong. 16:30 But when you read the whole book, 16:32 it becomes more and more obvious that we're the ones 16:34 who are wrong because you find this heartbroken God 16:37 weeping over the loss of His children. 16:40 He didn't enjoy destroying these people one little bit, 16:42 and He only did it because there was no other way. 16:46 Destroying people is not God's first instinct 16:48 any more than David wanted to destroy his own boy. 16:52 And I know that's not enough of an answer for some people, 16:55 but I also know I'm not likely gonna be able to unpack it 16:57 anymore carefully than that with the time that we have, 17:01 because there's no easy one sentence answer, 17:03 and you really have to read the whole book. 17:05 There's no other way to get your mind around this. 17:09 But I can promise you this, 17:11 what you're gonna find in the Bible 17:12 is probably nothing like the stories you've been told, 17:16 and now it's time for another break. 17:17 But after that, I want to come back and revisit the idea 17:20 that death somehow cheats us 17:22 and why young death seems so especially tragic. 17:26 [logo swooshes] 17:28 - [Narrator] Here at The Voice of Prophecy, 17:30 we're committed to creating top quality programming 17:32 for the whole family. 17:34 Like our audio adventure series, "Discovery Mountain." 17:37 "Discovery Mountain" is a Bible-based program 17:39 for kids of all ages and backgrounds. 17:42 Your family will enjoy the faith building stories 17:45 from this small mountain summer camp and town. 17:47 With 24 seasonal episodes every year 17:50 and fresh content every week, 17:52 there's always a new adventure just on the horizon. 17:59 - The Book of Proverbs, 18:00 which is really a book of collected wisdom, 18:03 it opens with a metaphor. 18:05 It's the personification of wisdom who is described 18:08 as a woman. 18:10 Much the way that the sixth century philosopher Boethius 18:12 described philosophy as a woman who came to keep him 18:15 company as he awaited death in a prison cell. 18:18 There's this tragic scene right near the beginning 18:21 of the Book of Proverbs where wisdom 18:22 is trying to make herself available to everybody, 18:25 offering to educate us all, 18:27 and make our path through this broken world 18:29 just a little bit easier. 18:31 And it's especially addressed to young people. 18:34 It's offering to spare them the heartbreak 18:36 and emotional scars that invariably come 18:38 from learning life's lessons the hard way 18:41 through the school of hard knocks and bitter experience. 18:44 And I guess I'm drawn to this passage for personal reasons 18:47 because if I look back at my own misspent youth 18:50 from the vantage point of an older man, 18:53 I can see a lot of missed opportunities 18:55 that were put right in front of me, 18:57 but I was too blind, too self-absorbed to see them. 19:01 I mean, in some ways you can describe wisdom 19:03 as the stuff you wish you'd known a long time before now. 19:07 And again, I don't really mean to pick on the young here 19:10 because I'm sure that when I'm in my 80s or 90s, 19:13 if God allows me to live that long, 19:15 I'll look back at my 50s and 60s 19:17 and still find all kinds of missed opportunities, 19:20 all kinds of wisdom that was made available to me right now, 19:24 but I was too blind to see it. 19:27 But that being said, this really is a passage 19:29 that has a special application for the young. 19:32 Research seems to suggest that before we turn 19:34 about 25 years of age, our capacity for rational planning 19:38 hasn't really finished developing. 19:41 Where older adults tend to process information 19:44 in the prefrontal cortex, 19:45 the more rational part of the brain, 19:48 adolescents are far more likely to think with the amygdala, 19:51 which is where you process emotions. 19:54 And that might be the reason we were much more easily swayed 19:56 by our feelings when we were younger. 19:59 Now, what that means is that our capacity 20:02 for logical thinking, 20:04 thinking through long-term consequences for our actions 20:08 hasn't really come all the way online 20:10 until we're about in our mid 20s, 20:12 which would explain some of the stupid things I did 20:15 when I was a younger man. 20:18 I don't know if you've ever noticed this, 20:19 but sometimes when you ask a young guy what he was thinking 20:22 when he did something dumb, 20:23 like try to beat the train at a railway crossing, 20:27 he's sometimes at a loss 20:28 to give you any kind of logical answer. 20:31 And that's because there isn't one. 20:34 Sadly, as in the case of my good friend Peter, 20:36 the act of living by impulse means that sometimes 20:39 we have to go to a really tragic funeral. 20:42 You know, I don't really know what was going on 20:44 the night he died, 20:45 but I do know they were on the the wrong side 20:47 of the highway. 20:48 And I do know it was Saturday night, 20:50 and I do know that Peter had a taste for partying. 20:53 If he had lived to 50 years of age, 20:55 he probably would've slowed down long enough to consider 20:57 what would happen if you mix alcohol with driving, 21:01 but he was 19. 21:02 And on that night, his party brain 21:04 was speaking much more loudly than his rational brain. 21:07 It's a phenomenon that has caused a lot of anxiety 21:10 for an awful lot of parents because their kids 21:12 just don't seem to understand how dangerous 21:15 and life-changing some of their decisions are. 21:19 And that's where this passage from Proverbs 21:21 really speaks to me because from this vantage point, 21:24 30 some years after the fact, I can see myself in here. 21:28 Let's just read from Proverbs 1 where it says: 21:32 Wisdom calls aloud outside, 21:34 she raises her voice in the open squares. 21:37 She cries out in the chief concourses, 21:39 at the openings of the gates in the city 21:41 she speaks her words, 21:43 "How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity? 21:46 For scorner's delight in their scorning, 21:48 and fools hate knowledge." 21:51 All the wisdom we need to successfully navigate life 21:53 has been made available to us. 21:55 And the Bible says it's completely free, 21:58 but most of us, if we're honest, we ignore it. 22:01 It's as if the world's best personal assistant 22:03 is begging to work for you, 22:04 and he doesn't charge a penny and you don't want him. 22:08 It's as if Warren Buffet offers to manage 22:10 your personal finances for free, 22:12 or Bill Gates, or Steve Jobs offers 22:14 to be your personal IT director for a dollar a year, 22:18 but you turn these guys down. 22:21 What you hear in this passage from the Book of Proverbs 22:23 is an awful lot of the same gut-wrenching heartbreak 22:26 you hear in David's voice when he discovers 22:29 that his foolish son is dead. 22:31 You find the tears of a loving God who watches the way 22:34 we mindlessly destroy ourselves and we destroy each other, 22:38 and all the while he's freely offering 22:41 to be our personal life coach. 22:43 "All this wisdom is here for the taking," He says, 22:46 "and nobody seems to want it." 22:49 It's as if some generous benefactor offered to underwrite 22:51 your entire college education paid in full, 22:55 no strings attached, 22:57 but you'd rather go into crippling debt 22:58 working two or three jobs while struggling 23:00 to stay awake in class. 23:02 It just doesn't make sense to pass this offer over. 23:06 And it makes me wonder just how much 23:08 of what I've had to learn the hard way 23:10 could have been learned the easy way. 23:12 How many of the cuts and bruises on my soul 23:15 are completely unnecessary? 23:18 When I read this, I tend to picture wisdom weeping 23:21 as she's calling to an unresponsive crowd. 23:23 And I guess I think about it like that 23:26 because of what I know about God from the rest of the book. 23:29 A loving Father who weeps over our unnecessary pain, 23:33 wondering why we reject Him all the time 23:35 and seem to want to learn our lessons the hard way. 23:39 I mean, here's what it says just a few verses later. 23:41 It says: Yes, if you cry out for discernment 23:44 and lift up your voice for understanding, 23:46 if you seek her as silver and search for her 23:48 as for hidden treasures, 23:50 then you will understand the fear of the Lord, 23:52 and find the knowledge of God. 23:55 You've got to wonder why in the world 23:57 would anybody wanna refuse and offer like that? 24:00 I'll be right back after this. 24:03 [logo swooshes] 24:06 - [Narrator] Life can throw a lot at us. 24:09 Sometimes we don't have all the answers, 24:12 but that's where the Bible comes in. 24:14 It's our guide to a more fulfilling life. 24:18 Here at the Voice of Prophecy, 24:19 we've created the Discover Bible Guides 24:21 to be your guide to the Bible. 24:23 They're designed to be simple, easy to use, 24:25 and provide answers to many of life's toughest questions, 24:28 and they're absolutely free. 24:30 So jump online now or give us a call 24:33 and start your journey of discovery. 24:39 - [Narrator] Are you searching for answers 24:40 to life's toughest questions like, 24:43 where is God when we suffer? 24:44 Can I find real happiness? 24:46 Or is there any hope for our chaotic world? 24:49 The Discover Bible Guides will help you find the answers 24:52 you are looking for. 24:53 Visit us at biblestudies.com 24:56 or give us a call at 888-456-7933 25:01 for your free Discover Bible Guides. 25:03 Study online on our secure website 25:07 or have the free guides mailed right to your home. 25:09 There is never a cost or obligation. 25:12 The Discover Bible Guides are our free gift to you. 25:15 Find answers in guides like, 25:16 "Does My Life Really Matter to God?" 25:19 And "A Second Chance at Life." 25:21 You'll find answers to the things that matter most to you 25:23 in each of the 26 Discover Bible Guides. 25:26 Visit bible studies.com and begin your journey today 25:30 to discover answers to life's deepest questions. 25:34 [mellow music] 25:38 - I think one of the most frustrating things 25:40 our parents must have gone through 25:42 is when we started to branch out on our own. 25:45 That moment when it seemed like making independent choices 25:48 was more important than making good choices. 25:52 I mean, it was easy to see 25:53 that we were doing the wrong thing, 25:55 and they often tried to save us some pain, 25:57 but we couldn't hear our parents. 25:59 And of course, I'm older now, 26:01 but still when it comes to the wisdom of God, 26:03 I have to ask myself, am I still doing the same thing? 26:06 Do I value my independence over God's wisdom? 26:10 In hindsight, as I'm reading the Bible, 26:12 I can see that I've accumulated 26:13 some really unnecessary scars. 26:16 And I can see that the one who inspired the Bible 26:19 really did know what He was talking about. 26:22 You know, I think one of the biggest reasons 26:24 people tend to push the Bible aside 26:26 is because, well, it has a way of hurting our pride. 26:30 I mean, it's telling us we're wrong. 26:32 And so when somebody tells us that God 26:34 must be treating us unfairly, 26:36 there's a little part of our sinful being 26:38 that wants to believe that. 26:40 But then when you really start to read 26:42 what God's been trying to tell us, 26:45 you discover that He was never trying to take away 26:47 your personal autonomy. 26:49 What He's been doing is trying to set you up 26:51 for a much more fulfilling, much more rewarding, 26:55 authentic human life. 26:57 And you start to realize that life in this world 26:59 is always going to be hard, 27:02 but it's often harder than it needs to be. 27:05 You know, today I can look back and see all these people 27:07 who were trying to help me succeed in life. 27:10 They were trying to spare me the pain 27:12 that they had suffered. 27:13 And I find myself now wishing that I had listened 27:16 a little more. 27:18 Now, that I'm living on the sixth floor of life, 27:20 it occurs to me that if life should continue, 27:23 I might be able to spare myself a lot more heartache 27:27 just by listening to the cry of God's wisdom. 27:31 Look, I know that some of you have already made up your mind 27:34 about this book, and you've written it off as meaningless. 27:38 But what if this book really is your creator 27:40 trying to set you up for a much better future, 27:43 trying to keep your scars to a minimum? 27:46 It would seem to me in that case that ignoring this book 27:51 could prove to be another foolish decision. 27:55 Thanks for joining me today. 27:57 I'm Shawn Boonstra. 27:58 And this has been another episode of "Authentic." 28:01 [gentle upbeat music] |
Revised 2023-03-29