Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6

Most of the stories I tell you are true, but I haven't been able to verify this one. It certainly would be great if it were.

It begins with a rodeo cowboy applying for an insurance policy. The agent asked, "Have you had any accidents in the last year?" The cowboy replied, "Nope, but a horse did kick in two of my ribs last summer, and a couple of weeks ago, a bull I was riding split my skull."

"Wouldn't you call those accidents?" demanded the agent.

"Naw," came back the answer, "those beasts both did it on purpose!"

There are a lot of things we silly human beings call, "accidents." If so, they are deliberate accidents.

In a recent newspaper article, I came across the story of a boy who had been run over by a drunk driver. The attorney for the defense said the incident was an "accident." That's hard for me to believe. This driver had been arrested three times for driving under the influence. When this accident occurred he was operating a vehicle without a license or insurance.

Like the rodeo man said, he "did it on purpose."

I'm pretty sure the Lord doesn't like it when we play semantics with the important spiritual things of life. When He calls something a "sin," it's not a "mistake." When He says, "The soul who sins is the one who will die . . . ." (Ezekiel 18:20a), we dare not translate it to read that God would never send anyone to a bad place.

God means what He says, and we need to share His Word without change.

Thankfully, there are many good words to share, including the fact His Son came into this world to seek and save the lost. So we might be moved from damnation's darkness into the light of God's salvation, Jesus gave Himself.

And that's the message we need to share on purpose.


From a devotion originally written for "By the Way"



THE PRAYER: Dear Heavenly Father, I come before You and ask You to guide my steps as I move daily through my life. Keep me from sin and Satan, who would hurt me on purpose. Draw me ever closer to the Savior whose purpose is to save me, forgive me, and watch over me. In His Name. Amen.

In Christ I remain His servant and yours,

Today's Bible Readings: 1 Samuel 4-6    Luke 18:1-23

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