| Topic: |
Religions > Bible |
| User: |
"rhuff163" |
| Date: |
31 Aug 2005 11:06:06 PM |
| Object: |
What is my excuse? |
Devotional Guide
For the week of August 28, 2005
JESUS CHRIST WILL BE BACK
What is my excuse?
To Read: 2 Kings 19-21
To Know
³Ever since the creation of the world his invisible nature, namely, his
eternal power and deity, has been clearly perceived in the things that have
been made. So they are without excuse...² (Rm. 1:20)
When Friedrich Wilhelm Augustus Heinrich Ferdinand Baron von Steuben arrived
at Valley Forge he removed a critical excuse for losing the Revolutionary
War. Before von Steuben became General Washingtonıs drillmaster, the
colonials were an undisciplined mob. Joseph Ellis in his Pulitzer
Prize-winning book, His Excellency George Washington, wrote, ³For their
part, the soldieryroutinely defied regulations about hair length and
decorated their uniforms with ribbons, feathers, and fur in order to make
the very term uniform a standing joke.² The disarray in the camp meant
disorder on the battlefield. Three centuries ago armies won by
outmaneuvering the enemy. Von Steuben spent the winter of 1778 transforming
a ragtag group of citizen soldiers into a precision fighting unit. The
Prussian general thereby removed the excuse that the Americans were neither
professionals nor mercenaries. He imposed military discipline on conscripts
and volunteers addicted to rugged individualism. Von Steubenıs Regulations
created the Continental army. No more excuses.
God is perceived in us by the regulations manifest in creation. It requires
a Herculean effort of the human mind to think that this perfectly orderly
universe is not the design of a perfect being. Nature reveals a God who is
both powerful and purposeful. Yet, in the face of the facts, sinners insist
on their own way. Paul told the natives of Lystra, ³In past generations he
allowed all the nations to walk in their own ways; yet he did not leave
himself without witness, for he did good and gave you from heaven rains and
fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness.² (Acts
14:16,17) Those who refuse to see the God who is on display in his world
have reason to fear. They are blinded by sin and therefore without excuse.
09015$-09015
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