Rational Reasoning

To say I’m disappointed might not be the right word to use, but a little surprised, I am. I hopped up on my soapbox a few weeks ago with my “stimulus package” using it to spur on conversation about the financial woes of the world and what Washington was or was not doing about it. I submitted that all we had to do was give every citizen of the U.S. a check for $1 million and it wouldn’t cost but $350 million, far less than the government wants to throw at the problem. I even expanded my reasoning at the morning coffee table gathering, raising the stakes to include that some large households could end up with $6 or $8 million. Over the span of three weeks only one person challenged my mathematics. HELLO!!! Is anybody really listening or paying attention? I guess all people heard was “...a check for $1 million” and reasoned that everything would be grand if only Washington would see it our way. Put a pencil to it. Do the math! Don’t just listen to someone without reasoning and applying what you’re being told to see if it really fits. We’ll spend weeks scrutinizing what tire would be best for us to put on our vehicle, but would accept the word of a scam artist in a matter of minutes, thinking we’ll get rich quick. Dumb luck is the only way I’ve ever seen anybody get rich quick. “If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.” Investigate it anyway, but don’t work at it trying to make it into something it isn’t. CAUTION! Daily living may require rational reasoning while making decisions. Apply generously as needed.
A grandmother was surprised by her 7 year-old grandson one morning. He had made her coffee. She drank what was the worst cup of coffee in her life. When she got to the bottom, there were three of those little green toy army men in the cup. She asked, “Honey, what are these army men doing in my coffee?” Her grandson replied, “Grandma, it says on TV, the best part of waking up is soldiers in your cup.”
Two brothers were standing at the side of the road pounding a stake into the ground with a sign that read, “The End Is Near! Turn Yourself Around Now, Before It’s Too Late!” As a car sped past them, the driver yelled out his window, “You religious nuts!” From the nearby curve in the road the brothers heard the screeching of tires and a big splash. One said to the other, “Maybe we should just put, ‘Bridge Out’, on the sign.”
[Acts 17] As Paul traveled about the known world preaching the Good News, he and Silas came to Thessalonica where they spent three weeks. Some accepted their teaching and others were “jealous” that attention had been turned away from them. Mock riots broke out in protest to what Paul and Silas were presenting. Of course those who were jealous did not want to rationally and reasonably deal with the message being brought to them about Jesus being the Christ and what he had done for the world. But, the situation was quite different in Berea. (v11) “Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.” They knew the message being delivered was of great importance and that their souls salvation might well depend on what Paul was preaching, so they investigated what was being presented to see if it was true. The Athenians wanted to hear more, so they could weigh their thoughts in reason. Salvation is too important to take someone’s word alone. Study it!