“There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.”–Proverbs 14:12

Pastor Stephen Davey wrote about a lesson he learned about scuba diving from one of his friends. He said—“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”!

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.”

“Let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus“– Hebrews 12:1-2

Where do we find the strength for this grueling, often disheartening, many-obstacled race that is the Christian life? It is only found in fixing our gaze upon the God-man. Only as we look to Jesus do we find the persevering grace to run and not be weary, to walk and not faint.

Duty, without the beatific sight of Christ firmly focused before our eyes, will be nothing more than drudgery. On the other hand, to truly see Christ is to be transformed by the sight. There is no such thing as looking at Jesus and not being changed.

Do you struggle with personal purity? Look to Jesus, and be reminded of the superior pleasure of your perfect Savior. Are you wrestling with grief? Look to Jesus, and be comforted by the sovereign goodness of your God. Have you given into temptation? Look to Jesus, and see the forgiveness that pours from those cross wounds.

Only an unclouded, Bible-grounded view of Jesus can inspire us to faith, and give us the strength that we will need for faithful living. Fear of hell, fondness for family, love of fellowship, or hope of heaven—none of these are strong enough to build a joyful, persevering, self-sacrificing, Christ-exalting life upon.

Conversely, if we see our determination lagging or our strength diminishing, this is a certain indicator that our gaze has dropped, that our eyes are not fixed upon Jesus as they ought to be. As hymnwriter Helen Lemmel exhorts:

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.  —-Baptist Bible Hour

” For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office:”–Rom. 12:4, (Read 1 Cor. 12)

A while back at a meeting of the American Psychological Association, psychologists Jack Lipton and R. Scott Builione presented a study where they surveyed members of 11 major symphony orchestras and asked how each section perceived each other.

The percussionists were viewed as unintelligent but fun-loving, while the string players were seen as arrogant and stuffy. The brass players were described as loud by many, and woodwinds were viewed as quiet, meticulous, and a bit egotistical.

So with such different perceptions of one another, how were these orchestras able to make such wonderful music? Well, quite simply, they were able to put their biases aside and look first to the leadership of the conductor. And when they all did that, they could make beautiful music together as one orchestra.

How effective could the body of Christ be if we were to follow that model? Instead of infighting about personalities and methods in our churches, what if we put those differences aside and looked together at the great Conductor?

The church is a multi-faceted diamond. Don’t try to make it a carbon copy of yourself. Appreciate the beauty in the diversity of the body of Christ and follow Christ together!

Ask God to open your eyes to the beauty of the diversity within the Church.–Senior Living