Thought for July 26

 History:

• 1755: Casnova arrested for affront to religion and common decency
• 1775: U.S. Post Office created [Benjamin Franklin]
• 1917: J Edgar Hoover hired by Justice Department
• 1944: First V-2 rockets hit England
• 1945: Indianapolis reaches Tinian with the "bomb"
• 1947: CIA established
• 1948: Truman desegregates armed forces
• 1990: Americans with Disabilities Act signed into law
• Born: George Bernard Shaw, Carl Jung [psychology], Aldous Huxley [Brave New World], Gracie Allen, Blake Edwards, Jason Robards, Hoyt Wilhelm, Jan Berenstain [Berenstain Bears], Stanley Kubrick, Mary Jo Kopechne, Mick Jagger, Helen Mirren, Dorothy Hamill, Kevin Spacey, Sandra Bullock, Jason Statham, Kate Beckinsale, 
• Died: Elena Cornaro Piscopia [1st woman to receive academic degree from a university], Sam Houston, William Jennings Bryan, Robert Todd Lincoln, Eva Peron, George Gallup, Ed Gein [Psycho and Texas Chainsaw Massacre], George Romney, 

Thought:

Reading this morning a story covered by Matthew [12:15-21 and Mark 3:7-12. The Pharisees and Herodians are plotting to destroy Jesus for healing on the Sabbath. Mark paints an amazing picture:

• A great multitude is following Jesus. People have come from Galilee, Judea, Idumea, from beyond the Jordan and from the areas of Tyre and Sidon. Take a look at a map. Jesus is on the northern coast of the Sea of Galilee. Look how far people were walking to get to Jesus. Idumea is south of Jerusalem at the southern end of the Dead Sea [over 100 miles]. Beyond the Jordan is the land of Perea south near Jericho and the Decapolis on the eastern side of the Sea of Galilee. Tyre and Sidon are on the Mediterranean Sea. 
• Now place yourself with the eyes of Jesus---multitudes walking from distant places to be healed. You look out and see streams of people drawn by the miracles hoping to see Him, perhaps touch Him or be touched by Him. Blind and lame, lepers and infirm; even those possessed by evil spirits struggle along the road or are carried by friends. All day, every day they come, the helpless seeking help, the hopeless seeking hope. Now turn your eyes to the world around us---what do we see. Multitudes of sick, weary, oppressed, afflicted, beaten down, fearful, blind [spiritual and physical], addicted, purposeless, defeated. And we know the answer to every need---Jesus.
• And those with unclean spirits would come and when they saw Jesus, they would fall down and scream--You are the Son of God. Makes me ashamed that the demons fall and cry out that Jesus is God, but I don't do that enough. 

Now Matthew is writing to Jews so he includes a quote from Isaiah 42. Look at 12:20--A battered reed He will not break off, and a smoldering wick He will not put out. Max Lucado has written a good book called "He Still Moves Stones." One of the stories in that book is about this verse. It pictures a man who reads an ad for an art exhibit at the local library titled "Bruised Reeds and Smoldering Wicks." The art is arranged as pairs of paintings. One is a picture of a leper shunned by society titled "If You will, you can." It is paired with a painting of the same man cleansed and smiling titled "I Will." Another pictures a woman in ragged clothes and pale skin leaping across a wide canyon titled "If only." It is paired with a picture of the woman standing on solid ground filled with life titled "Take heart." The gallery continues with a woman surrounded by an angry mob and then a man lying on a crude pallet. The story poses the question, are you a bruised reed, bent, contorted, ready to break with the next wind or rain---bruised by someone's words, betrayal, failure. Or are you a smoldering wick--your light is low on fuel and about to go out--weary, tired, life draining away. Jesus can change the bruised reed to a healthy and strong reed, able in His strength to endure the wind and rain. Or the smoldering wick can receive a fresh supply and provide light for the path. 

Today, if you are that reed or wick--call to Jesus. Or if you know that reed or wick, take someone to Jesus. 

Blessings

Larry