thief. One night they saw a suspicious- looking fellow walking down the road. Just as he reached the spot where the men were hiding, he quickly turned and ran for his life. He wasn’t fast enough for he was quickly caught and jailed. When the case came before the judge, he was found quilty. The jurist was concerned about the verdict. He visited the man’s cell before the scheduled hanging. He told the condemned man, “You are going to die for sheep-steal ing. But somehow, even though it ap pears th a t you’re guilty, something doesn’t seem right. Tell me the truth. What is it about you and those sheep?” The prisoner broke down and wept, con fessing, “I ’ve been willing to take your verdict although I ’ve never stolen a sheep in my life. The reason I ran that night was because I killed a man on that spot 20 years ago. Something causes me to go back there often. Every time I go, I panic, running in fear and horror of retribution. My conscience has given me no rest for two decades. I de serve to die! Maybe this would relieve me of my misery.” A man’s conscience is a difficult thing with which to live. Has something happened in your life which maybe is troubling you today, perhaps some deed that you’ve com mitted, something that you said in haste when you should have been silent? Per haps some thoughts you have are dis pleasing to the Lord. The Bible says, “Whosoever confesseth and forsaketh his sin shall have mercy.” The Lord Jesus Christ is the One who gives full and complete pardon as we come to Him, sharing these things upon our hearts. As believers, “I f we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
gress. The Bible testifies, “The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly and righteously and godly in this present world.” OUr first chief executive officer prayed, “Almighty God, we make our earnest prayer that Thou wilt keep the United States in Thy holy protection; that Thou wilt incline the hearts of the citi zens to cultivate a spirit of subordina tion and obedience to government and to entertain a brotherly affection and love for one another and for their fellow-citizens of the United States at large. “And finally that Thou unit most graciously be pleased to dispose us all to do justice, to love mercy, -and to conduct ourselves with that charity, humility, and specific temper of mind, which were the characteristics of the Divine Author of our blessed faith, and without a humble imitation of whose example in these things we could never hope to be a happy nation. “Grant our supplications, we beseech Thee, through Jesus Christ, Amen.” JUSTICE THWARTED Newspapers recently carried an in teresting story about a man who died from a bullet wound inflicted four and a half years ago. During that long pe riod of time he was paralyzed from the waist down. Two teenage boys were immediately app reh end ed f o r the thoughtless crime. One of them ex plained six days later, “We did it just for fun.” He was 1U and his companion was 15. Days passed into weeks, weeks into months, and months into years. For four and a half years the victim lay bedridden. As a result of the linger ing effects of the paralyzing gunshot wound, he finally died. It is a sad and tragic story. Yet, what is so disturb ing is the fact that under the law those boys, now young men of 21 and 20, can no longer be held accountable for their crime. California law states that unless the victim dies within a year and a day of the actual crime, the per i l God changes people, not things.
No wonder it’s hard to save money. The neighbors are always buying things you can't afford.
A LEADER’S PRAYER All of us should be reminded of the importance of prayerful support on be:- half of our national as well as state and local leaders. The first president of the United States, George Washington, offered a tremendous prayer in Con
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker