Thinks that look level often are not.  Trust me on this.  I live in a house that is nearly 200 years old.   Level is not always parallel.  I once hung a mirror in said house.  The top of the mirror was parallel with the line where the wall met the ceiling.  Though the mirror appeared level, it was an inch off.  I adjusted said mirror, making it level. I took a few steps back and it looked crooked.  Things in the periphery can make the level look crooked.  The only way to determine if something is truly level is to have something against which to measure it up.  Eyeing it up is just a bad idea.

Fortunately for me God has provided a holy level:  His Living Word.  So how to apply what I know about level?  Ground that appears level on first glance may not be.  The only way to be sure is to align it against scripture.  Things I see in the periphery can make what is level appear skewed.  Therefore worldly influence can make God’s Word appear to be what it is not.  If level may not be parallel than moving with the popular opinion might not be level ground.

All I know is I cannot trust my own eyes to tell me what level ground looks like.  I can trust God’s word.  Ah, now only to get into the habit of breaking out that level instead of eyeing it up.  As I look forward to this year I see ahead of me a huge mountain, alas to align myself with God’s Word seems insurmountable and then I remember, things that don’t appear level may very well be.