Fact of the Day

The swordtail is the fastest swimming fish.

At least that's what I read a few days ago on a message sign announcing the Fact of the Day in a remote Texas town, population 1054. My daughter and I have been making a 150-mile trip to Austin and back everyday for four weeks now for medical treatments, and this was the first time I had even noticed the sign.

My first thought was, Hmm. And then I thought, What is a swordtail, anyway? And for approximately four and a half seconds, I was excited to have learned something new. On the return trip I glanced up at the sign again, just to make sure I had gotten my facts straight. Yup.

My anticipation of the next day's Fact of the Day was almost as overblown as NBC's live coverage outside Blair House Tuesday morning, awaiting the unveiling of Michelle Obama's inauguration outfit. But whereas Michelle delivered with a dazzling lemongrass ensemble, my Fact of the Day was more like the Emperor's New Clothes: nonexistent. I headed out of town toward the horizon, without expanding my personal horizons one whit.

Sometimes my spiritual life is just as flat. I'll hear or read a nugget of truth that strikes me afresh, and I'm awed that God would communicate in such a personal way. My heart and mind yearn for more. But instead of following up like a noble-minded Berean, I continue on my way until the next nourishing morsel comes my way. Worse than being spoon-fed, this method of receiving God's Word is like catching crumbs under the table.

Instead, God wants me to experience the abundant life--to be filled up to all the fullness of Himself. Not that hard times won't happen, because they will; or that I'll get everything I want, because I won't. But God invites me to come to Himself, to read His Word and to meditate on it, and to be led by His Spirit on an itinerary constructed just for me. Going my own way and expecting God's Word to chase after me like a blood hound, is as far-fetched as driving down the highway and expecting a Fact of the Day to change my life.

Incidentally, a Google search for swordtail fish yielded 90,300 results, but of the six sites I checked, none mentioned Phelps-like swimming attributes.

On a happier note, today's updated Fact of the Day proclaimed Meg Ryan's birth name as Margaret Mary Emily Anne Hyra, a fact fully confirmed by Google.

And that's the gospel truth.