Our Daily Bread

When God confronted Adam for eating from the forbidden tree, Adam blamed Eve (Gen. 3:12). Ever since then, people have tried to avoid taking responsibility for their actions by shifting the blame to others or to circumstances beyond their control.

I heard about a man in Indiana who lived in the same house all his life. Imagine! For nearly 80 years he awakened every day in that house. He went to school from it, then to work, but always returned to the same home. He said he had no desire to live anywhere else.

England’s historic Coventry Cathedral was devastated when Nazi planes blitzed it during World War II. In the middle of the ruins, the authorities placed a huge cross made from two charred beams of wood. On that cross were engraved the words, “Father, forgive.” Not the three familiar words of Jesus, “Father, forgive them” (Lk. 23:34). No, just “Father, forgive.”

As I walked out of the chapel after a memorial service for a Christian friend, the funeral home director remarked, “You know, there’s a big difference between the funerals of those who are Christians and those who are unsaved.”

One of the most exciting major league baseball games I ever saw came excruciatingly close to being one for the record books. One mistake, however, turned it into just another game.

Some athletes and entertainers receive astronomical salaries. I can understand why they would take all they can get, but I wonder about a culture that spends so much to be entertained when countless people in the world are homeless and hungry.

The castle at Edinburgh, Scotland, was built to provide great security for its citizens. Strategically situated atop a high overlook, its massive walls offered protection for the townspeople whenever invaders approached. Yet as impenetrable as that great fortress seemed, it once fell to hostile forces. This reminds us that man’s best efforts never provide complete security against disaster.

We call life’s older years the “sunset years.” But are they really that rosy? For some, they are. But for many others, even Christians, the sunset years may become clouded with bitterness or despair.

With cranberries, it’s the bounce that counts. While the quality of some fruits is judged by their firmness and color, the best cranberries are distinguished by their ability to “bounce like a golf ball.”

When the apostle Paul saw in a vision the man from Macedonia, it changed the history of the world. Heeding the man’s plea to “come over to Macedonia,” Paul altered his plans. It was in Macedonia he led Lydia to the Lord, and it was there that the evangelization of the Western world began.