Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:
The salvation story of Jesus Christ reaches around the world. So that the readers of our Daily Devotion may see the power of the Savior on a global scale, we have asked the volunteers of our International Ministry Centers to write our Friday devotions. We pray that the Spirit may touch your day through their words.
In Christ, I remain, His servant and yours,
Kenneth R. Klaus
Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour
A familiar saying is “a picture is worth a thousand words.”
On a recent trip to Thailand, my wife and I took over 8,000 pictures. Unfortunately, my favorite picture is one I never got, at least not on film. It happened too quickly to capture — three people on a scooter. I had seen it often: the mother driving in the middle with an older daughter hanging on behind and the younger one riding in front.
What made this picture so special was the gleeful smile on the little girl’s face. That smile said, “I don’t have a worry or care in the world.” Before I could raise my camera and capture the shot, the scooter was gone. So I did the next best thing, I carefully committed it to memory.
We ought to do the same with God’s Word.
The pages of the Bible form picture after picture of a loving God who brings forgiveness, life and salvation to a sinful world. My favorite biblical picture is of a blood-stained, empty cross in front of an open tomb. Jesus stands in front of that tomb speaking to a woman. He says: “Go tell my disciples that I am raised from the dead …” (see John 20).
The smile on His face says it all: I’m alive, sin and death are conquered, you are forgiven through faith in Me!
Photographs are good when they communicate truth between the person who takes the picture and the one who sees it. That was true for the girl on the scooter, and it is also true for the more important picture which shows God saving us from sin and death.
Indeed, the images found in the Lord’s Word are so powerful they create faith in the hearts of those whom the Holy Spirit brings to see.
Of course, a person will never know or appreciate the love of God until he looks at the photo album of His Son. But if he takes the time, he will see the snapshot of His Son saving the lost.
This is why we Christians say, “Would you like to take a look at God’s album, the Bible?”
THE PRAYER: Dear Jesus, create in human hearts a hunger to read and hear Your precious Word so that sinful souls might know and trust You who will carry us through life, past death, into heaven with You. In Jesus’ Name I ask it. Amen.
Biography of Author: Today’s international devotion was written by the Rev. Keith Ringers, who is the pastor of Saint Mark’s Lutheran Church in Elberta, Alabama. He and his wife Diana went on a mission trip to Thailand to serve with Lutheran Hour Ministries in Bangkok and Phang Nga. The trip was sponsored by the Pastoral Leadership Institute. Lutheran Hour Ministries-Thailand focuses on sharing the Gospel and making contacts with local people through various community radio programs, Equipping the Saints (ETS) evangelism training, Bible Correspondence Courses (BCC), print, Internet, and Gospel text messaging. The staff also conducts special children’s activities and does presentations in many government schools.
To learn more about our International Ministries, click here or visit www.lhmint.org.