November 8

"While the Jews desired the advent of the Messiah, they had no true conception of His mission. They did not seek redemption from sin, but deliverance from the Romans. They looked for the Messiah to come as a conqueror, to break the oppressor's power, and exalt Israel to universal dominion. Thus the way was prepared for them to reject the Saviour."

           Desire of Ages, page 29  from the chapter, 'The chosen people'

What is your motivation as you think about the Second Coming of Jesus?  It seems that for the Jews their limited view of what Messiah was coming for led to their rejection of Jesus. Effectively, to get the right idea they had to, “die to self”.

     I’m your typical male when it comes to looking for something. “It’s right in front of you”, is the call from downstairs when I’m looking for a particular object.

     “I can’t see it!” I reply.

     Of course, when I’m shown the item I’m searching for it really is right in front of me. My brain seems to have it’s own conception of what it wants to look for – it has forgotten the real object.

     Scarlett Johansson, the actress, starred in a Dolce and Gabbana perfume advert  where she utters the words, “I’m just looking for that perfect thing …. love.”

     We can learn a little from those words. When we adore the inconsequential we miss the most important things. When we misinterpret the meaning of words, like love, we end up heading down the wrong track. A perfume won’t help us find love.

     The advertising expert who devised that commercial fastened on to something important. The human desire for love. “If you buy this perfume you will find love.”

     It is important to work out what the most important thing in your life is. You don’t work that out by watching an advert. You will be deceived. You can’t find ‘the most important thing’ sitting in a room meditating.

     The most important thing is found when you ask God for guidance, when you ask God for wisdom, when you ask God for the Holy Spirit – when you realise: “I’m not going to find the answer from my own resources.” We may be assisted as we search when we do that with a prayer partner, for indeed there is ‘wisdom in a multitude of counsellors’.

    Dying to self happens when you decide, “I’m simply going to ask God to guide me.”

     As for me, I’m reminded that my brain holds all sorts of rubbish, including memories about adverts I was never interested in in the first place. I can choose to turn that rubbish into a story – or I can think, “Why did I choose to put that rubbish there in the first place?” But that thought is for another devotional.