Unfortunately, we have grown accustomed to shrugging off lapses in moral character, manifested in secretive and deceptive lifestyles. We are frequently told that trying to find people who value honesty and model responsibility, who promote fairness, accountability, loyalty, respect for others, and who hold to strong, upright convictions is not at all realistic.
"Such people don't exist...we need to stop requiring personal purity," we are told. Or, as one air-headed soul said during the last presidential campaign, "We're voting for president, not pope."
To such an analogy, I reply "Nonsense!" That kind of logic (or rather, lack of logic) gives me the jitters. Such reasoning reminds me of a piece of nonsense I learned in elementary school.
Why Are Fire Engines Red?
They have four wheels and eight men;
Four plus eight is twelve;
Twelve inches makes a ruler;
A ruler is Queen Elizabeth;
Queen Elizabeth sails the seven seas;
The seven seas have fish;
The fish have fins;
The Finns hate the Russians;
The Russians are red;
Fire engines are always rushing;
So that's why they're red.
Just think about it.
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Excerpted from Day by Day with Charles Swindoll, Copyright © 2000 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. (Thomas Nelson Publishers). All rights reserved worldwide. Used by permission.