TITLE: Falling Short
DATE: January 1, 2019 TEXT: Romans 3: 22b-24 -, For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. So, Daily Devotioner, on the first day of a New Year, here is a question that’s been kicked since history began: Is humankind basically good, or are we inclined to evil.? Given the chance, will we do the right thing or the wrong? That question is age-old and has learned individuals coming down on both sides of the argument.. But the question still stood, until now. Now we have an answer because of what recently happened on Route 3 West, near Route 17, in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The change happened around 8:30 AM when a very special Brinks armored truck drove down Route 3. Now I say this truck was special, and so it was. But its specialness was not because it had a new kind of armor or bullet proof tires, or a newly-developed engine under the hood. No this truck was special because it had a defective back door. Somewhere along Route 3 that defective back door sprung open and the rush of air sent $100 bills out onto the street. $10,000; $50,000; $100,000; $250,000; $400,000; $500,000+ was soon blowing down the highway. Cars slowed down when the drivers identified the litter. Soon traffic had come to a stop as the crowd, selected by happenstance, began harvesting the bounty. The Brinks driver desperately tried to pickup what he could. So, what do you think people did? Here’s a couple of possible lines of thought…
So what did people do?
Here’s your answer: the Brinks man, and other motorists collected 205,000.00. Later on, people brought in another $11,000.00, Which means $300,000 is still missing. Well, actually, it isn’t missing. It has been found… the cash just hasn’t been turned in. And, there I think we have an answer. It is certainly the Scriptural answer. As it says above, “All have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory.” Understand I’m not saying everybody does bad stuff all the time. I’m not saying there aren’t goodly people who do fine things. But the reality is, there is an evil in our sinful hearts… and it is an evil which condemns us. Which is why we need the Savior, Jesus. He has dedicated His life to fulfilling the law for us, resisting Satan’s temptations for us and defeating death for us. Any and every place we have fallen short, He has come through with flying colors. And now because of Him we are saved and are able to thank Him. THE PRAYER: Dear Lord although we may try to convince ourselves that we are good, Your perfection shows us for being sinners who have fallen short of what you expect. Allow us to humbly thank You for the Savior’s great sacrifice. In Jesus’ Name. Amen. Today’s devotion was inspired by various articles, amongst which is the one written by Been Hooper for the UPI on December 14, 2018. Those who wish may check out this link which was, at the time of writing, fully active: Read more: https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2018/12/14/Armored-;truck-spills-cash-on-New-Jersey-highway-causes-chaos/4861544815042/#ixzz5a9QQBKh7 See also: https://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2018/12/14/nearly-300000-remains-missing-after-armored-car-spilled-cash-onto-new-jersey-highway/ The music which introduces and concludes our devotions was written by Guy Baumann, one of my long-ago confirmands. He is singing with three brothers. This song comes from the album: The Baumann Brothers which may be ordered here: http://thebaumannbrothers.com/index.html
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