LIES, HELICOPTERS, AND PROVERBIAL WISDOM

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He who earnestly seeks after and craves righteousness, mercy and lovingkindness, will find life in addition to righteousness and honor. 
~Proverbs 21:21

I wonder what Brian Williams was seeking when he made the choice to lie about which helicopter he was on.  I hate to hit a man when he's down, but when we do stupid things in the public eye we do set ourselves up to be examples.  The Bible is full of stories of people who made stupid choices and paid the price.  Samson, anyone?

If Mr. Williams had chosen to follow just one simple commandment given us by our Father in heaven, he wouldn't be in the mess he's in right now:  Thou shalt not lie.  

At some point, he made the cognizant decision to lie.  He probably convinced himself that he wasn't really telling a lie, he was just exaggerating the truth.  He claims to have remembered incorrectly.  Just as with Dan Rather's 'fake but accurate' story on George Bush, Mr. Williams likely justified the inaccuracies in the name of journalistic license. Unfortunately,this license our journalists have issued themselves has led many of them to become fiction writers.

 To live with a lie for so many years, somewhere in Mr. William's head he must have convinced himself of his own righteousness.  Unfortunately, man's righteousness falls far short of God's. 

 If Mr. Williams had been seeking after God's approval instead of the admiration of his fellow man, he wouldn't be seeking mercy from his co-workers and the public at large, right now.  If he'd had respect for those servicemen he was supposed to be accurately reporting on in Iraq, he would have given them the honor they deserved and told the story truthfully.

 God's burden is not heavy if we take it to heart and understand it is what is best for us. Like we tell our children -- it is for our own good!    But we humans are very good at taking what is easy, and making it upside down, backward, inside out difficult.   

 Proverbs 21:21 gives us very simple instructions for finding righteousness and honor -- and life. But when we get caught up in the wiles of the world it is easy to let the desire for glory from our fellow man trip us up.  His desire for man's approval over God's will cause Mr. Williams to pay the consequences.  It works the same way for all of us. 

 And that is why we should crave Truth, not flattery that makes us feel good about ourselves. We should desire God's approval - not man's.  We should trust in the One who knitted us in our mother's womb, not in the man who would steer us wrong with 'fake but accurate' knowledge.  God promises that if we seek Him first, he will give us that which we seek. God's rewards are always more precious than man's.

Comments

  1. Wendy GilliattFebruary 6, 2015 at 12:47 PM

    Prayers for Mr. Williams and his family as they go through this trial. Prayers for strength through the storm, that he'll see his need for forgiveness - from God, not man, and that his fellow man will be as merciful as God.

    ReplyDelete

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