One movie that always makes me laugh is called Animals are Beautiful People. It’s sort of a documentary that highlights the all-too-human behaviors of wild African animals.
In one segment a nomad decides to capture a monkey to have it lead him to water. To do this he takes a stick and drills a hole in the ground in plain sight of the monkey, appealing to its curiosity. Then he sweetens the deal by pushing some seeds deep into the hole. Finally, he moves off a space and sits down to watch.
The monkey stares at the hole for a bit, and when he can’t take it anymore, he stuffs his hand into the hole. Eventually, he feels the seeds and grasps a handful, but when he tries to remove his hand it won’t come out. Now that it’s balled up into a fist and full of seeds it’s too large to fit through the hole. At this point, the nomad walks up and puts a makeshift leash around his neck.
I laugh because that’s just like people (hence the name of the film). We hold on to silly, temporary things and, because we won’t let go, we’re easily ensnared by them. Yet God is waiting to give us better things—eternal things—if we’ll just release the inferior.
That’s something to think about.
Westside Church of Christ 