Have you ever gotten a song in your head and you find yourself singing it over and over and over? Billy Preston is best known for his loopy song Will It Go Round In Circles. The song the way it is written can somehow put the brain into an enhanced loop frame. If the song went on for twenty minutes, there would be many that would probably sing it through to the very end. Would you be one of those? After a while, most of our brains would send out a signal to cut the loop, step out of the circle. It's one of the fascinating things about our brains and the way God made us.
I do not believe that God ever intended for us to live our lives going around in circles. There are too many references to the word "straight" in God's Word.
Oh Lord, lead me in Your righteousness because of my foes; Make Your way STRAIGHT before me. Psalm 5:8
Referring back to a quote that I cited in a previous post about Ant Circles, William Beebe, in his book Edge of the Jungle (1921, Henry Holt, New York), observed an ant mill that measured 1200 feet in circumference. It took more than two hours for one ant to come full circle. (Now, folks, that's A LOT of ants! Does it remind you of a mall at Christmas time or a busy morning airport?)
Here's my point: In Beebe's book, he writes that the mill persisted for two days, "with ever increasing numbers of dead bodies littering the route as exhaustion took its toll, but eventually a few workers straggled from the trail thus breaking the cycle, and the raid marched off into the forest."
Note the underlined statement. A few workers straggled from the trail thus breaking the cycle.....
America is a crazy place to live. Blessings, yes. Freedom. Yes. But there is a price to be paid for all of it. And slowly, even Christians join the societal circle. There are fads, trends, gotta have gadgets, toys (for big kids and small), and stimuli galore - enough to hoodwink the strongest person down a road of destruction and death. Reality TV that bends our perception, violent video games (that we have been desensitized to believe to be violent), the latest fashion, the latest electronic toy, socially accepted partying (with no thought to the spiritual weakness of those around), and frivolous time spent on distractions (note, I said "frivolous" - not needful time. There IS a difference).
Satan has devised a human circle, a circle that goes nowhere. It is in distraction that he has tied the hands of God's church in America. The longer we travel on this circle, the tireder we become. The circle begins to move faster. We become depleted. Exhausted. Wondering where God is in all this.
My friend, God never designed us to be followers of the world. Just as ant's follow pheromone trails of the tracker ants, we must choose which "scent" to follow.
Jesus says, "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me." (John 10:27)
My question to you today is this: Will you be one of those Christian workers that "straggle" from the destructive circle to nowhere and break the cycle? In your life? In those in your sphere of influence?
"Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it.
For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it. Matthew 7:13-14
