LHM Daily Devotion - November 29, 2017 "Never Out of Fashion"

Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries

By Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour

"Never Out of Fashion"

November 29, 2017

(Jesus said) "For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you."

~ John 13:15 (ESV)

We all know that fashion is a fickle thing. What we sometimes forget is that the very best of things never go out of fashion.

For example, it was 1935 and Fiorello H. La Guardia was mayor of New York.

One December night he showed up at a courtroom in the poorest part of the city. He replaced the judge and took over the bench. One case involved an elderly woman who was caught stealing bread to feed her grandchildren. La Guardia said, "I've got to punish you. That will be ten dollars or ten days in jail."

Knowing she could not pay, La Guardia picked up his hat and threw in $10 of his own money. He then fined everyone else in the courtroom 50 cents each for living in a city "where a person has to steal bread so that her grandchildren can eat."

The woman left the courtroom with her fine paid and an additional $47.50.

Here's another story: this one from last month.

Security guards at a Giant grocery store in Laurel, Maryland, detained a destitute young mother who had tried to steal $15 of diapers for her two-year-old son. Officer Bennett Johns was assigned the case and cited the unnamed lady for "misdemeanor theft."

And then Officer Johns went above and beyond his official duty; he paid for the diapers himself.

As I said, some things should never go out of style, and that includes following Jesus' instruction to do unto others as He has done for us.

Of course, such a statement leads us to ask, "And just what is it Jesus has done?" Well,

• He left home in heaven to live a life on this sin-filled, God-rejecting planet;

• He left the adulation and praises of the heavenly host to embrace a life where people would reject and despise Him;

• He lived a life without ever committing a sin, but He ended up carrying every sin of every person who would ever live;

• He showed nothing but love to His lost people, and they returned His efforts by condemning Him and railroading Him to a cross where the life of the innocent was used to pay the ransom price for those who were guilty.

That is what Jesus has done for us. Now He knows it is impossible for His redeemed brothers and sisters to duplicate the depth and intensity of His caring. He still encourages us to do what we can for those needy who are placed in our path.

It is one way we can show our thanks for all He has done.

THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, there are needy souls all around us. Help us to show our gratitude to the Savior by doing what we can to help them. Send the Holy Spirit to use our actions to glorify the Savior and point the lost to our loving Lord and Savior. In Jesus' Name I pray. Amen.

Use these devotions in your newsletter and bulletin!  Used by permission; all rights reserved by the Int'l LLL (LHM).
We all know that fashion is a fickle thing. What we sometimes forget is that the very best of...