THE TRADING POST


"Professing themselves to be wise, men became fools." (Romans 1:22a)

For man said, "Let us make god in our own images that we might have dominion over him." Thus he traded "the glory of the incorruptible God for images made like corruptible man." (Romans 1:22b) And man formed gods out of the dust of his head, and in his own likeness created he them both males and females.

The first they called gramps for he was old, senile, deaf and blind; and because he was lonely he tried very hard to please everyone, and was ever so grateful for the least of their attention--and that's just what he got--while they gobbled his goodies, robbed his pockets and sought mostly to please themselves. Gramps applauded with only one hand.

Now others made god like a yardstick by which they measured themselves with themselves, and they looked down on other men--but never! No never looked up! And they said, "Truth is what we say it is. Please spare us the confusion of facts." They plant their feet firmly on air while gravity goes out for a walk.

Then the call went out across the land to worship Hypothesis; and great multitudes gathered at Mount Ph.D., for of a truth it was piled high and deep. There every man scribed his own god supposing that his was supreme--but anarchy reigned, and great was the thud of Ph.D. for everyone worshipped himself!

In no way are the gods that man creates able to deliver him--but THE GOD who created all things can! The Bible says, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be delivered."

And then there was . . .

METAPHYSICS

Why and Wherefore set out one day
To hunt for a wild negation.
They agreed to meet at a cool retreat
On the Point of Interrogation.
But the night was dark and they missed their mark,
And, driven well nigh to distraction,
They lost their ways in a murky maze
Of utter abstruse abstraction.
They took a boat and were soon afloat
On the Sea of Speculation,
But the sea grew rough, and their boat, though tough,
Was split into an equation.
As they floundered about in the waves of doubt
Rose a fearful hypothesis,
Who gibbered with glee as they sank in the sea,
And the last they saw was this:
On a rock bound reef of unbelief
There sat the wild negation;
When they sank once more and were washed ashore
At the Point of Interrogation.
--Oliver Hereford, 1898

And some called god BOO! For they said, "He who is good will not harm us. Come, let us be slaves to our fears!"--never knowing what might come, they worship the cruel unknown. And God says, "But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death." (Revelation 21:8)

Of course, there is always that colorful but mindless creature who swallows and regurgitates everything.

My name, it is Poly, I'm an eclectic bird.
For you I will parrot from religions I've heard.
I'll pick some from this one, and from that one i'll choose,
Whichever one suits me, that's the one I will use.
To begin--there is Good, an impersonal force,
A principle, something about which men discourse.
Now second--there's Evil, some add that to the list
Still others would argue that it does not exist.
But then thirdly say those, you'll be happy to find,
That the whole mess is only a question of Mind!
Retribution is fourth if your ways you don't mend--
(Expletive deleted) may describe your foul end.
Yet if all of this squawking to you seems obscure,
If what you are seeking is the simple and pure,
Then, trust dear old Poly, your eclectic friend,
Just unfurl your mainsail and be borne on the wind.

Well, if all of this seems like a lot of babble to you, perhaps you would like some really good news. The Apostle Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians said, "I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve." Jesus is alive today as proof that His death for sin is effective. Why not now admit to God the condition of your heart and receive by faith God's offer of eternal life provided in the finished work of Jesus Christ His Son "who was delivered for our offenses and raised again for our justification." (Romans 4:25)

--GEM


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