September 30, 2008
Greater Love

For one will scarcely die for a righteous person -- though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die -- but God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:7-8

Ten-year-old Doug Zehner of Chesterton, Indiana, is alive.

Doug slipped into a rain-swollen creek and was pulled into a steel culvert. A next-door neighbor, Mark Thanos, jumped in to try and save the boy. When Mark had a difficult time getting out of the water, his 74-year-old father jumped in to provide assistance.

The boy, smaller than the grown men, was flushed through the three-foot-wide culvert and came to the surface about 20 feet downstream.

Both men died in their attempt to save the boy.

Doug's parents, moved by the selfless devotion of their friend, said, "He gave his life for my child. I can only hope that we live up to his memory. We'll do the best we can with our son for him."

Theirs is an appropriate and right reaction. When somebody gives his future for yours, a life well lived is the best and probably the only way to express your appreciation. You can't pay back the debt; all you can do is honor what has been done for you.

That's something we Christians understand.

We know that because of Jesus' sinless life we no longer live under the law; because of the Savior's sacrifice on Calvary's cross, we have been given eternal life. Now, to the best of our ability, we try to do our best to honor the Christ, the Savior who died for men and women who were sinners.

Oh, there is one other thing about this accident you might want to know.

Thinking about what had happened, young Doug, with a cracking voice, said, "I wish he (Mark Thanos) didn't love me that much."

As for me, I'm thankful there are people like Mark who can love that strongly, that selflessly, that sacrificially.

I'm even more thankful I have a Savior who loved a sinner so much that He -- fully aware of what He was doing -- traded His life, His hope, His all, so I might be forgiven and given a new life that will last forever.

THE PRAYER: Dear Lord Jesus, for coming to this world to live and die for ungrateful, unappreciative humanity, my thanks. In dying so I might live, You have given me a gift I could never earn, and can never repay. But may I live a life that honors You. In Your Name. Amen.

September 23, 2008
Glittery Sins

But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, "God, be merciful to me, a sinner!" Luke 18:13

The three Chinese men bought a 604-pound "ball of shiny something" for $2,000.

Then, they smuggled the ball of shiny something past border guards to a safe hiding place.

Surprised that the ball of shiny something sparkled and glittered when the lights were turned off, one of them chipped off a chunk of the something and kept it next to his bed. At night, when he had a hard time sleeping, he played with his chipped-off chunk of something.

Finally, curiosity and a desire to turn a profit motivated the men to put the ball of shiny something on the market. Knowing most people would be reluctant to buy a big ball of shiny something, they decided to go to Beijing to get their ball of shiny something identified and appraised.

To keep from being discovered, one of them taped a piece of the ball onto his body and made the thousand-mile trip.

Things, however, didn't go as well as planned.

After they were arrested, the men were told they were trying to sell a giant ball of depleted uranium. They were also told exposure to such a ball usually isn't a problem. The key word in that sentence is "usually."

When I read that Reuters story last week, I thought that's pretty much the way a lot of people deal with sin.

They think it's innocent stuff; they think they can play around with it, stay close to it and not suffer any ill consequences from it. Scripture says flat out they are wrong. The soul that sins will die. Big sins, little sins, all kinds of sins lead to death. In short, sin may appear to be shiny, but it is always dangerous stuff.

By God's grace, Christians can recognize the danger in sin's glitter. That is why we follow the example of the publican in Jesus' parable. Rather than playing with sin or pretending it's perfectly innocent, we say, "God be merciful to me a sinner."

Now I don't know what sins are bothersome to you. I do know that Jesus came into this world to take those sins away. His perfect life was lived to remove those sins and have them nailed to the cross with Him. Because of Jesus' sacrifice your once-glittery sins are exposed and eliminated.

Because of Jesus, your sin is gone and by faith you are saved.

THE PRAYER: Dear Lord Jesus, I stand convicted of many sins. Because You have lived, died and risen those sins have been erased. May this day be lived in the forgiveness and joy You alone can provide. In Your Name. Amen.

September 22, 2008
Escape or Die

And as they brought them out, one said, "Escape for your life. Do not look back or stop anywhere in the valley. Escape to the hills, lest you be swept away." Genesis 19:17

This devotion is being written from my hotel room in Amarillo, Texas. Hurricane Ike is the reason I am not on a flight home right now.

According to my next-door neighbor, there is a large tree down in my back yard. Hurricane Ike gets the blame for that, too.

Of course, the loss of a tree is nothing compared to the damage experienced by many.

Amazingly, the number of folks who have died from this monster storm is minimal.

Maybe that's because hundreds of thousands of people paid attention to the warnings that were given. In case you didn't hear, to those places the hurricane was to hit, the National Hurricane Center warned, "All neighborhoods and possibly entire coastal communities will be inundated during the period of peak storm tide . . . . Persons not heeding evacuation orders in single family one- or two-story homes will face certain death."

When I heard that warning, I was reminded of what the angels said to Lot before the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah: "Escape . . . do not look back . . . escape lest you be swept away."

Lot obeyed God's instructions and survived. His wife looked back and died. It was very simple.

If you are reading this devotion, you have probably heard God's salvation warning: "Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned" (Mark 16:16).

You know you have been saved completely and totally by Holy Spirit-given faith in Jesus as your liberator.

As one of Jesus' saved people, you are grateful because your gracious God has moved you from the danger zone of sin, Satan, and death, to the forgiveness and salvation that comes only through Jesus' life, suffering, death, and resurrection.

You are saved, but others are not. This is why, today, I would encourage you to pray for one person, one individual who is special to you-somebody who has decided to ignore the warnings of Scripture and remain steadfast in his or her unbelief.

Pray that their hearts may be softened, and they will flee from their present position of certain death to the safety assured by the Savior's sacrifice.

THE PRAYER: Dear Lord Jesus, for sending Your Holy Spirit to call me to faith, I will be eternally grateful. Now I specifically bring to Your attention, (NAME) ________, my (RELATIONSHIP) ________. Let him/her be touched by the wonder and joy of what You have done. In Your Name. Amen.