Over the years there have been times when people asked me, "Why should I
meditate or memorize God's Word?" Today I can give an answer -- an
answer which begins with this story: a few weeks ago, the ten-foot waves
were pounding the shore of California's Big Lagoon Beach when Howard
Kulijian and his family went out for a walk with their dog, Fran.
When Kulijian tossed a stick toward the water, Fran raced down to
fetch it. It was then, just as the dog got to the shoreline, a "sneaker
wave," that is, a wave larger than all the others, swept in and carried
the dog away from the shore.
Kulijian's son, 16-year-old Gregory,
forgot about the signs along the beach that warned about those sneaker
waves and ran after the dog. Kulijian ran after Gregory and Mary Scott,
Kulijian's wife, followed them all.
As of this writing the bodies
of both father and mother have been recovered and Greg is still missing.
It was a terrible tragedy, a tragedy I can understand. You see, if one
of our dogs was in a life-and-death situation, I believe any of our
three children, motivated by love for their pet, would have put
everything else aside and rushed in to help. Pamie would have followed
the children, and I would have gone after them all. That's what most
families would do.
That's what they would do unless ... unless
the posted warning signs had become part of their thinking, paramount in
their minds.
If you review Scripture, you will find many of the
sins committed by God's people happened because their wants and wishes
pushed aside God's words of warning. That's what happened to Adam and
Eve, Samson, David, Ananias and Sapphira, along with so many others.
When they reached a crossroad in their lives, a crossroad which would,
to a large extent determine their relationship with the Lord, they took
the wrong path, their path and the results were catastrophic.
Why
meditate and memorize God's Word?
Because in your life you will
probably get to a similar crossroad. At that time you will need to know,
in no uncertain terms, what God wants you to do. The possibility you
will walk the right road is increased if you are intimately familiar
with His Word, which equips us for the crossroads of life.
THE
PRAYER: Dear Lord, all around us we see tragedies. Some are earthly
tragedies like that which happened to the Kulijian family. Others are
spiritual disasters, where people have taken their road rather than Your
will. You have given us the Holy Scriptures, so we might be prepared for
the evil eventualities of this world. Move those words from the paper
into our minds and hearts. This we ask in the Savior's Name. Amen.
Pastor Ken
Klaus
Lutheran Hour Ministries
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