Just in case you're interested, this is the devotional that I handed out to Grace Teens for this next week:
Recap of Pastor Keith’s Sermon:
Back in 1996 there was a pretty cool show that debuted on TV called “Early Edition”. Here’s a summary of the show:
A guy named Gary had an orange cat bring him a newspaper every morning (no, I don’t know what the cat had to do with anything). The cool thing was that the paper was for the next day. The headlines informed him of what was going to happen. Gary had a choice as to how he could use this information. He could either use it for his own good or utilize it to benefit the lives of others.Now, think about it. If you knew in advance what was going to be happening, it would be extremely tempting to use that information to make yourself filthy rich. “OK, the numbers for the SuperLotto Jackpot of $546 million is…Let’s see, the stocks I want to buy today are…”
During the show, there was this constant tension that Gary struggled with between doing what was right and selfishly using the knowledge for his own gain.
Most of the time, Gary the hero, used this gift to save people’s lives or to give back to society. However, every decision he made impacted the headlines that would be on the REAL paper that arrived on his doorstep that evening.
Guys, it’s very unlikely that you are going to receive the inside scoop on what’s going to be happening in the future. The future is murky, clouded over with the many different options available to us. We can plan for the future, we can anticipate the future, but unlike Gary, we cannot predict what’s going to happen.
The cool thing about being a Christian is that we have put our trust in Someone who controls everything that will ever take place. If we truly surrender everything to Christ, our lives are in His hands. However, we need to remember that every choice we make, every action we take is writing a headline for tomorrow's newspaper.
This week check out the following Scriptures on God’s Plan for Our Lives and Surrendering to Him:
Trusting God With Our Future: Psalm 32:8; Psalm 119:130; Isaiah 30:21 (remember the blindfold illustration); Jeremiah 10:23; Jeremiah 29:11; James 1:5
Surrender to Christ: Psalm 37:3-5; Proverbs 3:5-6; Proverbs 16:3; Romans 12:1-2
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2 comments:
FYI: I believe the cat (named Carl, by the way) belonged to the guy (dead, maybe?) who owned the aforementioned newspaper press (I vaguely recall an episode that had something to do with that)
Yes, you're right (must be why you were salutatorian). Carl the cat was definitely the star of the show.
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