"Riddle Me This"

"O ye sons of men, how long will ye turn My glory into shame? How long will ye love vanity, and seek after leasing? Selah." (Psalms 4:2) Don't you just love it when the preacher opens his sermon with a question? The purpose of this technique in delivering a sermon, is to get those that you are preaching to involved with your sermon, and to get their attention. Now, who do you think that David is speaking for; is it himself, or is it for God? If he is speaking for himself, then this would have definitely been directed towards those that were still in opposition to his reign; of which, there were many. However; if he is speaking for God, as I believe that he is, then these questions would involve all sorts of people; including those that are not believers in the God of Salvation! How well do you think that you know your heart? I am willing to bet my bottom dollar that you don't know it as well as you think that you do. For example: have you ever done or said anything, and then wondered, Where did that come from? If you said, No; then awesome for you; I think? But you must know this: that sometimes, what you perceive as reality and truth, may actually be a lie; and in that case, you are only fooling yourself. Sometimes, the things that make us feel good, comfortable, or at ease, are actually not the things that bring us closer to God, but will actually do the opposite, and drive us away from Him. "O ye sons of men". I don't know why, but I could not help but think of the song "Man or Muppet" as I was reading this portion of Scripture. You have to understand something here; this first question is being asked of men, not women; but the men that are to be the leaders, ministers, and priests in their homes, to their families, and in their communities. And the question, my dear brothers, that is being asked by God, through His servant David, is, "How long will you turn My glory into shame?" Yo; Rich, Why is this just about us men?; you might ask. Well; first off, the word that proves that this is so, is the word "men", which means man, male (in contrast to a woman, female); and the "sons" means group, origin, or generations of a specific entity. Secondly; as Paul so vividly puts it in 1 Corinthians 11:3, 7-9, "The Head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man; man is the image and the glory of God, but the woman is the glory of the man. For man is not of the woman; but the woman of the man. Neither was the man created for the woman, but the woman for the man." So then; What do you believe is the meaning of this question? Okay; if you can judge a man's character by what he does while no one is looking, then you can judge what his glory is by what he dreams of at night. Brouch!!! That might have raised a few eyebrows! Husbands; What would you like your wives to be dreaming of: her knight in shinning armour? And if so; wouldn't you want the face revelled, as he lifts his helmet up, to be that of your own? Something to think about, don't you think? This one little example is something that is strictly between you and God; primarily, it is us who must deal with, and suffer for, those things which we keep hidden within our hearts. Although, I do believe that our wives are affected by our wild fantasies that we play out in our minds; they just don't know why or what it is that makes us so distant at times. Okay, so maybe I am getting a little carried away; but the truth of the matter is, that if Christ is our Head and our Glory, then what are we letting into our heads? There is another way to view this question, and it has to do with the way that we portray who we are in Christ. Does the glory of who He is in us shine, or is His glory put to shame? In other words; if we are His ambassadors, are we showing forth His kingdom, as a representative of that kingdom? The wealth that we have been given as sons and heirs of His majesty; is it brought forth in our lives, or are we ashamed of who we really are? That is the question... Just for fun; if you have not seen The Muppets, or even if you have, you should try going to YouTube and viewing the song titled "Man or Muppet"; but make sure that you view the one authored by MuppetsStudio, for the full effect...Just for fun!