There are problems in today’s world. The sad thing is that sometimes people choose a false cure to the problem. Oftentimes this is a merchandising technique to sell something.
Stefan Ulrich writes that today’s sophisticated thieves are stealing rhinoceros horns, and they can bring up to $300,000 each! That is more productive than stealing gold! These horns are ground down and sold to the Asian market because people believe that rhino-horn powder is believed to cure everything from migraines to cancer to male impotence to arthritis.
Many of these robberies have occurred in France. Just recently bandits broke into a Paris nature museum, sprayed tear gas at the guards, stole a white rhino-horn out of a display, and then quickly jumped into a getaway car. It sounds like of the one old gangster movies. It is estimated that some European museums have been “cleaned out.” Zookeepers are fearful that gangs will start targeting their animals and killing them for their horns.
At least eight European countries have been ravaged by these robbers. Thieves have stolen rhinoceros horns from museums, private collections, and antique stores. These rhino horns are bringing a lot of money on the market, but they are not the cure to the problems. Somebody has been sold a bill of goods.
A rhino horn is made of keratin, just like fingernails and human hair. Maybe someone should tell the truth – if you are eating rhino powder to cure some problem, you might as well just bite your fingernails!
This phenomenon is interesting – but sad. It is also indicative of the way a lot of people approach life. Some novel idea appears to be a cure for some problem.
The biggest problem in life is sin. There are a lot of things on the market that tell us how that problem can be solved and how we can be happy. Much of it deals with making more money, having more free time, reaching more goals, accomplishing more plateaus of success, etc. These will bring no more cures to the most basic problem that each person has than biting fingernails!
The cure for the greatest problem in life is the gift that God has given us in His Son Jesus Christ. He said, “I have come that you might have life and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10) You don’t have to rob some museum or kill some animal to get that. The cure is offered freely. We call it grace.
It is a gift that is available for every person.
If you have a rhinoceros, you better lock it up in a safe place until people discover the truth. If you are on a mad dash seeking all sorts of answers to the secret of life – open up your heart to the gift of the cure that God has given. This is truth – it was true yesterday, today and will be true forever! (Hebrews 13:8)
