The Devotional - A Look at the Book #802

by Jesse Abel

A Word from Papa “J”

 

Big bellies and little ties may be a sign of the times, but more likely just a time to start a good diet. The prophet Daniel understood this very well. Daniel 1:1-20

 

GOOD MORNING

The first ship that I was on was as you no doubt know by now was a radar picket ship. It was very fast with a high speed of 11.6 knots and that is equivalent to a whopping 18.5 miles per hour. One of the activities we deck sailors would do to be more daring and push the speed of things to the daredevil level was to ride the rope.

While we were in port there was always a need to paint the ship since the ship was old and liked rust more than it liked a new coat of paint. During breaks and lunch time we would take the ropes used to hang over the side for painting and the Boatswain Chair and without measuring the distance from the main deck to the water; ride the rope to the distance down to see if we could just tap our feet on the water surface and not get the rest of the body wet.

At first many of us got soaked, but after a while we became good at this little game of chance, but our speed downward was much faster than the forward speed of the ship. One day while I was doing this at lunch time the local dry cleaner’s truck was parked on the pier and the driver was watching what we were doing, but he did not have a clue of our game. All he saw was my rapid decent toward the water.

The guys on the deck said that his eyes were as big as his head with fright and that he rushed to the edge of the pier to offer help only to find me beginning my climb back up the rope. We were laughing and carrying on and I can still hear his voice. “That was not funny… I thought you were a goner”!

Frightening things happen in our lives daily and like any moment in time; life is not guaranteed for the next moment. Yet this does not mean that we should fear to live for the next moment. For the saint of God life and death are not subjects of alarming concern. 2 Corinthians 5:8 says that “to be absent from the body is to be present with the LORD”.

This is not all that the verse reads, the full verse reads; “We are confident, yes, well pleased” therefore we have a lively hope of life in Christ and have no hope in the death of the world around us because death no longer has any power; all SIN which is DEATH is rendered powerless, 1 Corinthians 15:56 God has given to us forgiveness of sin and victory through Jesus Christ.

Psalm 16:1-11 is the song of the faithful in Christ, because Jesus is victorious over death. You see death was never a part of God’s Plan and returning to God through faith in Jesus Christ is God’s Way, is God’s Truth and is God’s Life Plan. John 14:6 is all we need to have power over the second death.

Also the speed of this faith in Christ is like in a moment, in the twinkling of the eye we are changed from the corruptible clothing of death to the incorruptible clothing of life in Christ. 1 Corinthians 15:50-58 and Roman 13:11-14.

But, of course if a person insists on being religious they will be rusty and always need a new coat of paint. Matthew 23:27 Their work will be slow, they will never accomplish anything other than playing games with death and lose, but let us not forget, they will just get better at losing, which is their only hope.