The Way People Choose

Scripture References: Psalm 16:11; Ephesians 2:10

Michelangelo and Raphael had totally different perspectives on lifestyle. Michelangelo lived alone, with only a servant; Raphael traveled with a retinue. “You go about with a suite, like a general,” Michelangelo stormed at him. “And you go about alone, like a hangman,” Raphael sniped in reply.

City dwellers of the Renaissance urged escape to the country to enjoy its delights and pleasures. One farmer replied: “Had I not been born a rustic, I should readily have been touched with pleasure” by the descriptions of rural happiness. However, being a farmer “what to you are delights are to me a bore.” Contrary to his brother’s greed for multiplied possessions, Prospero declared, “My library was dukedom large enough.”

God orders no single lifestyle for humanity. Instead, by stressing our individuality, he allows each person to determine how to dress, where to live, or what career to pursue. But we must not confuse personal lifestyle with the life God planned when he created us. When God envisioned beings to share his fellowship, he created a person in his own image.

Courtesy of Speaker’s Sourcebook of New Illustrations by Virgil Hurley © 1995 by Word, Incorporated.
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV © 2011 by Biblica, Inc.®
Used by permission. All rights reserved.