A sandy-haired, ten-year-old, who was lovingly referred to as “Do-little” by his friends, sat spell-bound on the cold cement bench in an award-winning “city jungle” – better known as the County Zoo. Oblivious to the constant flow of gawking, chattering patrons, he studied the magnificent beast that sat on the hill not more than 100 feet away. Giant man-made rocks and fifty-foot shade trees had been creatively arranged to provide a haven much like his native environment. A deep mote and rock wall separated the animal from its admirers. But Do-little felt as though there was nothing between him and the king of the jungle, who he was carefully sketching in his journal. 

Then, it was as if the young boy fell into a trance. The lions’ beautiful mane framed his intelligent face and his eyes demanded Do-little’s full attention. Suddenly the mighty cat seemed kind, and as gentle as his own Ragdoll. Its beautiful coat begged to be stroked. Do-little reasoned, “Something so beautiful can’t be harmful.” He wondered why everyone insisted on keeping walls and distance between them and such a wonderful specimen. So, he slowly rose from his pew and tiptoed toward the four-hundred-pound beast. 

Suddenly he caught movement from the back wall of the lion’s pen. A large metal door opened and a slab of meat, the size of a small boy, sailed through the opening onto a metal, blood-stained feeding trough. In an instant the huge animal bounded to the raw meat. Grabbing the meat with his powerful paws he began ripping the meat with his three-inch incisors until it had been reduced to bite-sized chunks. Within minutes the lion consumed his feast and resumed his perch on top of the hill.

It was jarring; as if common sense and reason were saying, “Wake up Do-little. You can’t just imagine the world to be a different place than it really is. You have to be honest about it. Observe and learn. Don’t pretend and expect the world to comply.” 

It seems that people, individually and corporately, have often found themselves in a similar position. They have caught a glimpse of God, or of His handiwork. Then, rather than being honest about who God is, they imagined the god they wish they could have, or a god terrible enough to beat up other gods. It never ends well. Reality is the best policy. Thankfully God has gone out of His way to explain Himself and to demonstrate both His power and His love. The Bible is an incredible original source for that kind of information. And Scripture explains that only those who are “honest to God” will ever really begin to understand Him.