Literary Classics

Over the last five or six years I have become a fan of author Clive Cussler and his mystery/adventure novels.  My older son is actually the one who turned me on to his books.  As I have probably mentioned in the past, all of our kids are voracious readers, having gained a love for books through my wife’s tender nurturing and reading to them during their early childhood and subsequent homeschooling.  I take the credit though, for introducing them to the real literary classics such as “The Hardy Boys” and “Nancy Drew” mystery series.

It was with this in mind that Josh lent me two “Dirk Pitt Adventure” books written by Cussler during one of our California summer visits while I was attending school in Oklahoma.  His enthusiastic “Dad, they’re just like Hardy Boys books for adults” helped me to overcome any skepticism in reading them.  Well, wouldn’t you know, once I opened up the first book I could hardly put it down!  And I’ve been hooked ever since… in fact I think I have now read every book in each of his five fictional series!

A couple of nights ago I started to read (or re-read actually!) the ninth of the “Dirk Pitt” novels entitled “Treasure.”  Written in 1988 it tells a tale of intrigue and adventure as Dirk overcomes countless impossible situations to discover a Roman treasure (including portions of the lost Alexandria Library… of course!) in a cave near the shore of the Rio Grande River in Texas.  Along with all the items recovered by the NUMA team were also various pieces of the protective armor that were worn by the Roman soldiers who supposedly protected the cavern hiding place.

This morning as my eyes wandered down the open page in my bible, I slammed to a sudden stop as I read, “Put on all the armor that God supplies.” (Ephesians 6:11 God’s Word ©)  Then I continued on, reading about how Paul likened the stand of our faith to the armor worn by a Roman solder during the time the epistle was written.  Of course I thought about the Cussler’s book and meditated on the biblical descriptions with a new found interest.  I even took a little side trip and looked up Roman armor on the web!

It would seem that the girdle or belt of TRUTH that is talked about in verse fourteen was “the point of junction for the main pieces of body armor, so that they formed the common bond of the whole (man).”  It is our understanding of the TRUTH that “gives unity to the different virtues, determinations and consistency to our character.  All the virtues of a person are exercised within the sphere of truth.” (Vincent’s Word Studies)

The TRUTH we believe sets the establishment of who we are!  It is the one item of the armor that holds every other piece in place!  The Bible in Basic English refers to the TRUTH as the Word of God by translating the word “truth” by the phrase “the true word.”

So let me ask you today?  What is the TRUTH that you hold dear to your heart?  What is the TRUTH that you believe?  What is it that establishes you for who you REALLY are?  For me it continues to be the truth of God’s Word.  It is the only thing that gets me through the most frustrating and trying times in my day, like having to take over an hour to coax my wife into swallowing a few ounces of medicine this morning.  It is the TRUTH of what He says in His Word concerning my wife’s healing that helps me to keep going and work through the times when things aren’t going real great!

So, once again… On what establishment or foundation do you make your stand?  Is it on the ONE that is unshakable although not always visible, or on what you may see that at times can shake you down to your very core?  I personally prefer that “peace of God which passes all understanding.” (Philippians 4:7 MKJV).  Have a good day.  Stay in tune to His Word and keep asking yourself… “What am I expecting today?”