Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries
"Fair Warning"
May 29, 2018
For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous. Now the Law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
~ Romans 5:19-21 (ESV)
Having lived in the Midwest most of my life, I am familiar with the warnings about severe thunderstorms and the occasional tornado watch and warning.
With the recent eruption of Hawaii's Kilauea volcano, I have been fascinated by some of the unique warnings that accompany such a rare event. Never before have I heard of a "vog" warning which is sulfur dioxide mixed with volcanic ash. Then there is "laze haze" which occurs when the lava hits cool seawater. The bottom line of these warnings is you don't want to breathe this stuff or the byproducts of the stuff flowing out of that volcano.
As interesting and as frightening as these warnings are, they are miniscule when they are compared to a warning which tore through the small East Coast Florida town of Lake Worth. If you had been up at 1:41 a.m. on a recent Sunday morning you would have read
START TIME: 2018-05-20 01:41:28
POWER OUTAGE AND ZOMBIE ALERT FOR RESIDENTS
OF LAKE WORTH AND TERMINUS. THERE ARE NOW FAR LESS THAN 7,380 CUSTOMERS INVOLVED DUE TO EXTREME ZOMBIE ACTIVITY. RESTORATION TIME UNCERTAIN
City officials were soon scrambling to reassure folks that everything was just fine. Sadly, those reassurances didn't seem all that reassuring. One public information officer said, "We are looking into the reports that the system mentioned zombies. I want to reiterate that Lake Worth does not have any zombie activity currently and apologize for the system message."
The italics and underlining in the above paragraph were added by me.
As far as I know, the citizens of Lake Worth did not take to the streets to defend themselves, nor did they make emergency farewell calls to their loved ones. In truth, nothing much happened at all.
Possibly nothing happened because the folk of Lake Worth, Florida, don't take zombies too seriously.
Unfortunately, many people treat the Lord's warnings with the same attitude of disconcern and disregard.
* When the Triune Lord says, "The wages of sin is death," they act as if God is not speaking to them.
* When the Lord warns, "The soul that sins will die," they ignore the warning and continue in their sin as if they had developed some immunity from sins' consequences.
Far better for them to hear the Lord's warnings, be brought by the Holy Spirit to repentance, and rejoice that through Jesus' perfect obedience, they can, and will, be made righteous.
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, let the world hear and hearken to Your warnings about sin and its death-bringing results. Grant that repentant hearts may be turned to, and welcome in, the Savior who alone can save. In Jesus' Name, I ask it. Amen.
The above devotion was inspired by a number of sources, including one written by Ed Maazan for the Huffington Post on May 22, 2018. Those who wish to reference that article may do so at the following link, which was fully functional at the time this devotion was written: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/florida-extreme-zombie-activity_us_5b03b07ae4b0463cdba56768
Use these devotions in your newsletter and bulletin! Used by permission; all rights reserved by the Int'l LLL (LHM).
Having lived in the Midwest most of my life, I am familiar with the warnings about severe thunderstorms and the occasional tornado watch and warning.
No comments:
Post a Comment