Standards of Reality

(Proverbs 12:9 KJV)  He that is despised, and hath a servant, is better than he that honoureth himself, and lacketh bread.

We have a touch of reality here.  On one side is our actual financial condition.  On the other side is perception.  Our culture is more in love with perception than reality.  I think of a “beach bum” that I observed in Hawaii.  He lived in a shack on the beach beside an affluent condo complex.  To all appearances he was homeless and living hand to mouth.  A local told me he owned a house up on the hill.  He didn’t seem to care what people thought of him.

Go down the beach and observe the many people staying in posh splendor, drinking strange drinks and partying late into the night.  Most of them are doing it on credit.  They can’t really afford it but figure they will pay later.  Our plumber takes his whole family on his credit card.  He is paying his bills so it is legal, but which one is better off?

So?  Do you ever have someone tell you that you need to say “Amen” or raise your hands or you are not spiritual?  When they do I either smile and act receptive or, if I am in one of those moods, ask them where they were at 5:00 AM when the Lord and I were celebrating.  Go for reality.