by Kelly Moran
for 25 October 1995
I love the stories in this book. They are hilarious. See if you agree:
Nashville, Tennessee. It was late when Junior Williams was robbing a house. He fell asleep on the couch. Police officers awakened him shortly after sunrise.
Rhode Island. A man arrested as the chief suspect for a string of coin-machine robberies was to be released on a $400 bond. He paid the bail in quarters!
Peoria, Illinois. Police arrived to investigate a robbery in which the only thing taken from the house was the brand-new wall-to-wall carpeting. Everything else was there: TV's, stereos, valuables.
They got another surprise when they stepped out into the back yard. There was a trail in the snow, cut where something long and heavy had been drug. The trail led directly to a neighbor's house, where the carpet had been re-cut and installed.
I know that I have done some goofy things. I have played the part of the fool (and played it well).
I have actually deceived myself into thinking I could get away with some things that have ultimately resulted in separation from God. I thought that I could pretend to be committed to God, and really live for myself.
If I were seeking after the heart of God, I could and do make plenty of mistakes. But there's a difference between dropping a bloody glove and falling asleep on the couch.
Mistakes don't separate us from God. Foolishness does! Disobedience does! Ungodliness and immorality and deceit in our lives separate us from God!
These things are foolish because they involve a choice of our own will to reject God. We blow it. And of all things, we think we will get away with it!
Step one is to simply realize how incredibly, unbelievably, inconceivably holy God is.
Moses stood before God's people and declared, "I will proclaim the name of the LORD. Oh, praise the greatness of our God! He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he.
"They have acted corruptly toward him; to their shame they are no longer his children, but a warped and crooked generation. Is this the way you repay the LORD, O foolish and unwise people? Is he not your Father, your Creator, who made you and formed you?" (Deuteronomy 32:3-6)
What have you done, and thought you could get away with? Do you realize how pure God is? He could not have this deceit in His presence!
Step two is to realize your own helplessness. Solomon wrote: "He who trusts in himself is a fool, but he who walks in wisdom is kept safe." (Proverbs 28:26)
Step three: Look to Jesus. Paul wrote to the young minister, Titus, "At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures.... But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy..." (Titus 3:3-5)
The fool acts as if he can't be caught.
The fool thinks he can trust in himself.
The fool refuses to trust in Jesus for eternal hope.
God, I need you.
Published weekly for 4 years and 3 weeks.
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All Scripture references are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version (unless otherwise noted).
Copyright 1995 by Kelly Moran.