Escaped Dolphin Do Tricks for Food
(Universal Press Syndicate) Three trained dolphins escaped from their performing pen at a resort in Key Largo, Fla. They were discovered several days later in a lagoon off Key Biscayne, some 55 miles distant. At 10am, 2pm and 4pm they performed tricks, apparently hopping to be fed on their Key Largo show schedule.
The Sun-Sentinel reported that passing boaters were only too happy to oblige and feed the talented performers.
Though freed, these dolphins continued to live and function as though they were still in bondage. Sound familiar?
"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery" (Galatians 5:1).
I Know My Rights
With the rise of the American cop dramas in the 1990s came an interesting trickle down (or should we say trickle "over" effect) on foreign cultures across the Pond. "American TV crime dramas such as "Law & Order" and NYPD Blue" are taking a toll in France," reports Gail Russell Chaddock in THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR:
According to pollsters, the French began thinking that a judge in a courtroom should be addressed as "Your Honor"--rather than the traditionally acceptable "Mr. President." And many routinely began demanding to see a warrant when police wanted to search their homes--something that isn't always required in that country. * "It's a cultural catastrophe! French citizens don't even understand their own legal system anymore," said a top official.
*"In France the police have extensive powers of search and seizure in the case of flagrant offense and when a crime is being committed or has just been committed …" (per Britannica.com).
To live as a Christian is to live with a clash of cultures between our earthly and our heavenly citizenships. If we're not careful, we can easily be confused about which laws apply to us, about which set of rights we should claim.
Do you ever lose track of your rights as a citizen of God's Kingdom?
"Dear friends, I warn you as "temporary residents and foreigners" to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls" (1 Peter 2:11).
Set Free By The Word
In his autobiography, Malcolm X, the outspoken Black Civil Rights activist of the 1950s and 60s, spoke of the impact the written word had on his life. While serving a prison sentence for firearms and larceny charges, he became frustrated by his inability to articulately express himself. He borrowed a dictionary from the prison library and began to copy it entry by entry.
“With every succeeding page, I … learned of people and places and events from history. Actually, the dictionary is like a miniature encyclopedia. … Anyone who has read a great deal can imagine the new world that opened up. Let me tell you something: from then until I left that prison, in every free moment I had, if I was not reading in the library, I was reading in my bunk. You couldn’t have gotten me out of books with a wedge. Months passed without my even thinking about being imprisoned. In fact, up to then, I had never been so truly free in my life.” – Malcolm X
[Malcolm X (1925-1965) was an outspoken civil rights activist and controversial leader of the Black Muslim movement. He spent many years as a member of the Nation of Islam and was a vocal proponent of “Black Supremacy.” Later he left the “Nation,” became a Sunni Muslim, and disavowed racism. He continued his civil activism until his assassination in 1965.]
If the words of a dictionary, diligently studied and ingested, can bring such liberation to the mind and heart of a wayward soul like Malcolm X, think of the impact the Word of God, diligently studied and ingested, can have on your wayward heart and soul. The Word of God is “living and powerful” (Hebrews 4:12). Study it. Ingest it. Live it. You, who were once a prisoner of your own sin nature, will find yourself “not even thinking about being imprisoned.” You shall know the Truth, and the Truth shall make you free, “And if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed!” (John 8:36).
“These things the words of Scripture are written that you might KNOW that you have ETERNAL LIFE” (1 John 5:13).
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