Miss Cleo—Does She Have the
Answers?
It’s not that people don’t want
help or guidance—they’re just looking in the wrong places. Instead of turning
to the Scriptures for God’s eternal wisdom, people will write Ann Landers, or
her sister Abigail Van Buren, or they may even give Miss Cleo a call to get a
tarot card reading.
Ann and Abby may occasionally give
some good advice, but if it’s a matter of any great importance, we should be
looking for principles from God’s word. For example, people constantly write to
them for marriage advice, but since God designed the marriage relationship,
shouldn’t He be the one we turn to for help?
Miss Cleo—now that’s another
matter entirely. We’ve got no business consulting someone like this. What she
does sounds a lot like sorcery—a practice condemned in Galatians 5:19-21. Ask
King Saul how God feels about consulting a medium. Do you remember that story?
We won’t recount the whole story, but here’s how it ended. “So Saul died for
his unfaithfulness which he had committed against the Lord, because he did not
keep the word of the Lord, and also because he consulted a medium for
guidance. But he did not inquire of the Lord” (1 Chronicles 10:13-14).
I’ve got a theory about why so few
people consult the Bible for guidance. Sure, there are some who don’t believe
it contains the inspired word of God. But I don’t think that’s the main reason.
People don’t turn to the Bible for guidance because it takes effort. People
like to get their answers quickly and in a condensed form. They don’t want to
put forth any effort themselves. Make no mistake about it; getting answers from
the Bible does require effort. God’s teaching on any given subject is not
always found in one place—you have to keep searching diligently. But the reward
will be well worth the effort. “Yes, if you cry out for discernment, and lift
up your voice for understanding, if you seek her as silver, and search for her
as for hidden treasures; then you will understand the fear of the Lord, and
find the knowledge of God” (Proverbs 2:3-5).
I’ll be the first to admit that I need help and guidance,
because I certainly don’t have all the answers. But I know where I’m going to
look for it. When Jesus asked the apostles after many of his disciples had
turned away, “Do you also want to go away?” Peter’s reply was, “Lord, to whom
shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” (John 6:68). The words of
eternal life—we won’t find them in an advice column or in a tarot card reading,
but we will find them in the Bible. It’s time to open it and start reading.