I heard recently about a lady (I won't speculate as to what color her hair was)
who went into an auto parts store. She asked for a seven-ten cap.
The employees all looked at each other and say, "What's a seven-ten cap?"
She says, "You know, it's right on the engine. Mine got lost somehow and I need
a new one."
"What kind of a car is it on," they ask. Perhaps it was an old Datsun 710 but
no, she says, "It's a Buick."
"OK, lady, how big is it?"
She makes a circle with her hands about 3 1/2 inches in diameter.
"What does it do?" They ask.
She says, "I don't know, but its always been there."
One of the employees gives her a note pad and asks her if she can draw a picture
of it. So she makes a circle about 3 1/2 inches in diameter and in the center
she writes 710.
The guys behind the counter are looking at it upside down as she writes it...and
they just fall down behind the counter because they are laughing so hard.
One guy finally says, "I think you want an oil cap."
She says, "Seven-ten cap, oil cap, I don't care what you call it, I just need
one, and I don't see what is so funny about it."
(by the way, in case you haven't figured it out by now, the word "OIL" upside
down looks like "710")
Perspective makes all the difference. Things look differently when we look at
them upside down. I'm reminded of the Christians in Thessalonica who were
accused of turning the world upside down (Acts 17:6). The truth, though, they
were turning the world right-side up. We live in a world that looks at things
upside-down.
"Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and
light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!" (Isa.
5:20).
The world looks at material things and calls them "items of great value." It
looks at sin and immorality and calls it "good and right." It looks at lies and
calls them "truth." It can be very confusing unless we realize the need to turn
things around and look at them from an eternal perspective.
If things in your life "don't look quite right," perhaps you've been looking at
things upside-down and you need to allow God to help you to turn things around.
Have a great day!
Alan Smith alansmith@boone.net
www.TFTD-online.com
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