Daily Devotions
Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. 1 John 3:15
Thirty-seven-year-old Raoul Thomas Moat had more than 37,000 members on his Facebook page.
That’s more than I have — a lot more.
Now if you’re wondering what has made Moat so popular, I’m hard pressed to tell you. The father of three children, Moat was a former bodybuilder, a steroid user, and a man with a temper.
Even his ex-girlfriend was afraid of that temper. That’s why, to keep Moat at a distance, she told him she had been seeing a police officer. That was a lie which set Moat into a rage. The first thing he did was murder his girlfriend’s new boyfriend, then he shot her.
Then he started shooting police.
He promised to keep shooting police until he was dead. Well, Raoul Moat is now dead. Rather than turning himself in, he shot himself. That, however, didn’t take place until he had murdered a number of innocent people.
Amazing to me, there are those who have made Moat a hero. One lady, a mother of three who rode nine hours to be at Moat’s funeral, said, ” … We watched it on the news all the way through and we prayed that he wouldn’t get caught. I absolutely loved him… Fair enough people died but they must have deserved it. He didn’t deserve what he got in the end.”
Since I read Moat’s story and comments like the one above, I have been wondering what kind of world is it where people cheer a cold-blooded murderer and side against the men and women who are doing what they can to protect those same people?
I know what kind of world it is. It is a world full of sin.
It is a world of sin desperately in need of a Savior. People can talk about how the human race is getting better and more loving, but it isn’t. We need a Savior. We need a Savior who loves us in spite of who and what we are — a Savior who was willing to sacrifice Himself so we can have forgiveness of sins and the promise of an eternity lived in harmony with our Creator.
Today, let us give thanks to God that we have that Savior. In the Person of Jesus Christ we have a Redeemer who has conquered sin, Satan, and death for us.
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, I give thanks You have been merciful to me a sinner. Now, as much as possible, may my life be lived in harmony with Your will, reflecting Jesus’ love to all those around me. In His Name. Amen.