A Wisdom Retreat - August 4


The Bubbles Are Always Right

Proverbs 14:12
There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.

I arrived on the Island of Malta while on a mission trip and stayed in a hotel which overlooked the Mediterranean Sea. The water was crystal clear and as I stood on the balcony, I could see the rocks at the bottom of the sea, shimmering as sunlight pierced the water.

There was a swimming pool near the edge of the water, and I watched scuba divers taking lessons and practicing the elements of the sport. Before ever venturing out into the Mediterranean, they safely mastered the basics in a pool.

As I watched them, I was reminded of one of my seminary classmates who was an avid scuba diver. He regaled me with his adventures on several occasions when we were together.

One insight from his experiences made a profound impact on me. I learned that when a diver was deep under water, he could lose all sense of direction. He becomes weightless—no sense of gravity—and swimming without a natural source of light causes him to become disoriented and swim sideways, thinking that he is rising to the top.

In fact, a diver can become so convinced that his perception is correct that he continues to swim in the wrong direction until he eventually runs out of air and drowns. My friend then said that the only way to keep this from happening is to follow the direction of your air bubbles. "No matter how you feel, or what your brain may tell you," he said, "the bubbles are always right."

The world today is like a group of scuba divers: disoriented and void of direction. Absolutely convinced that their perception of right and wrong is correct, they ignore the warnings, while the bubbles of truth tell them otherwise. Instead, they willfully follow the directions of other disoriented expert divers who say, "Live like this . . . believe like this . . . think this way . . . go that way"—and all the while their tanks are running out of oxygen.

According to the book The Day America Told the Truth, 74% of Americans think it is all right to steal from people who they believe will not really miss it; 64% believe it is acceptable to lie, as long as no one gets hurt; 93% say they decide moral issues by their own experience or opinion. Choosing to ignore the bubbles, they swim to their deaths.

The Word of God has been given to us that we may have direction for living. As Christians, we have no excuse for moving through life disoriented; the verses in Scripture are like the air bubbles from a diver—they show the way up.

Make sure you're swimming in the right direction . . . just follow the "bubbles"!

Prayer Point: Thank the Lord for showing you through His Word how to live a life that pleases Him, instead of leaving you on your own, disoriented, and on a path that leads to death.

Extra Refreshment: John 8:12-59.

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