Paris

I have to admit, I watched the Larry King talk show tonight. I never watch Larry King, but a friend of mine told me that Paris Hilton was going to be his guest. I don't pay that much attention to Paris. The only thing I know about her is that she is the Hilton heiress, she has a reality TV show with Nicole Richey, and she likes to party. Oh, and I heard that she had to serve jail time for driving under the influence. Apparently, she was recently released and now she wanted her first interview to be with Larry King (I also heard that Barbara Walters turned her down).

The point I would like to make is two-fold. First, there are fires burning in California and 18 inches of flooding in Texas, but the hot topic tonight on television was Paris Hilton's release from jail. There was even a countdown clock to the "interview event" posted on the show prior to Larry King! The media is relentless about poking the lives of celebrities in our face. It seems ever since the O.J. Simpson incident, the media and papparzi think that all we want to hear about is the lives of the rich and famous. Did I watch the interview? Yes. Should I have turned off my television? Double yes. I was wrong.

My second point is probably the whole reason I watched to begin with. Prior to the show, I saw a clip of Paris mention that, "God allows things to happen for a reason....this has changed my life." Of course, my ears perked up. Honestly, I was shocked that the word 'God' came out of her mouth. I would like to think that Paris had a come-to-Jesus moment while she was in jail. That in the midst of her despair and lowliness, she trusted God to pull her out of the pit. I don't know for sure that that actually happened, but I do believe that God is in the business of saving people when they no longer can save themselves. The biggest question the media is asking now is, "How serious is she? Is she a changed woman? What will Paris do now?" I was reminded of a verse in the Bible that says that, "Man looks at the outward appearance but God looks at the heart." How thankful I am that God judges us based on our hearts and not on our outward looks or how much money we have. Our hearts reveal everything about us. God knows that. That's why he chooses to reside in that very place when we accept his free gift of salvation. My prayer for Paris is that she truly has had a change of heart. What could be more of an amazing reminder of God's love than for Him to show the world that he can even work in the lives of the rich and famous?