Truth and Freedom By Andrea Marino
In the words of the ultimate Teacher, “Everything is absolute futility.” Ecclesiastes 1:2. I believe underneath all of man’s searching is a hunger to know the meaning of life and his purpose in living. The book of Ecclesiastes depicts the journey to making this discovery. Apart from God, life will always come up short, our existence amounting to meaningless - a “chasing after the wind.” God is the vine; we are the branches. John 15:5. Our survival depends on God, our very breath coming from Him. Not until seeing the fallacy of thinking we can make it on our own do we come to know anything of value. And while there are successful people who appear to have all the answers, after all is said and done, it is God’s words that will stand forever, prove to be true, and satisfy the basic hunger within a soul. 2 Samuel chapters 13-19 tells of a sequence of catastrophic events for King David’s son, Absalom, who strays from the ways of God. Enraged over the rape of his sister by his brother, which his father
does not avenge, instead chooses to forgive, Absalom arranges for the death of this brother. Absalom then revolts against King David and attempts to overthrow his throne. When David learns about the conspiracy, which involves his personal advisor, Ahithophel, (grandfather of the raped sister), David flees for his life. Climbing the slope of Mt Olives in distress over the entire situation, he cries out, “Lord, please turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness!”. These words impressed me, regarding the false information, instigating fear, that is flowing over the airwaves today. Deception is the act of causing a person to accept as true what is actually false. Today, more and more, people are being subjected to manipulation and control based on lies. Jesus warned His followers to test “the spirits” behind every teaching we hear, 1 John 4:1. We must take every thought captive, aligning each to what is written in the Scriptures, lest we fall to the deception of the mind-blinding spirit from the god of this world. 2 Corinthians 4:4.
PAGE 9 3
