Looking for Snails?

I have no tales of horror to give you today, thank God for that! I have actually had a feeling of excitement all day and I do hope with all my heart that my life is not so dull that the arrival of my new electric dishwasher finally being installed today after waiting since Christmas week to get it, was the cause for it!  I actually woke with a song on my mind early this morning that was popular back in the early ‘60’s. I remember that because we drove across the country to California in the brand new 1960 Impala Chevrolet, squashed in the back seat that was less than roomy with my sister and brother, the car did not have AC and we were making the trip in late August! So with the windows down we all heard Marty Robbins sing it over and over again!  I have some favorite hymns like Great Is Thy Faithfulness which I have on my IPod by Cece Winons singing duet with her mom, another favorite is Total Praise written by Richard Smallwood, it is just beautiful and lifts your soul to heights, almost heavenly! But standing at the sink this morning with the Gaither Homecoming in the background, there I was singing, “Out in the west Texas town of El Paso, I fell in love with a Mexican girl…” singing words to a song I hadn’t heard in years, words I didn’t even realize that I knew! It was not my most shining moment singing about a cowboy who shot another because he was jealous! I have always said that when you lay down to sleep, since your spirit doesn’t ever sleep, you should tell your spirit, “I want to stand before the Throne of God all night and worship Him. I think of the verse from Revelation 4:11 “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.” It would give me chills to think of the silence in heaven for 30 minutes, of the angels and the beings saying “Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!” But this morning after having risen from my drunken stupor yesterday I had obviously not been in the Throne room. At the heart of my less than spiritual song, is the theme of jealousy. Deuteronomy 5:9 Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God… I had been thinking of all the doctrines going around putting Jesus as only one way among many others to God, or discounting Him altogether, and suddenly, through this very crude example, I saw God, having given His all to us, being turned aside for the love of a “handsome young stranger”, representing the guilty excitement of people who have been raised knowing the truth of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, turning from the old paths to new directions. It will not lead to a flower covered garden path, no way, turning from God to seek “secrets” or “mystic” relationships will only lead to the death the cowboy faced out behind Rosie’s Cantina, an eternal life away from God. If you’re seeking something new, look inside yourself to see what is missing in your life. You don’t seek after new if you are satisfied with the old. Are you trying to rearrange the Word to make room for your lifestyle? Things the path of Jesus doesn’t allow for? Be honest with yourself don’t sell your soul’s salvation for an earthly problem. I remember a story about a beautiful heavenly swan that came down to earth to tell the earthly swan all about his heavenly home. He described all the beauty of heaven but the earthly swan just kept picking in the mud looking for snails. Finally he looked up and asked,  “Are there any snails there?” “No”, he answered, “Then I’m not interested, I’m looking for snails”. Sadly the heavenly swan took his flight, leaving his friend to search the mud for snails. No one is put on earth to judge you, your only judge is God so I am only suggesting that you make sure that while you are looking for snails you aren’t missing out on your heaven.  I hope you awakened excited this morning and that today you will not settle for snails!