Thought for March 2, 2024

•  1799: Congress standardizes weights and measures
• 1819: First immigration law
• 1836: Texas declares independence from Mexico
• 1867: Department of Education created
• 1877: Electoral College elects Rutherford B Hayes over Samuel Tilden--185-184
• 1899: Mt. Rainier National Park created
• 1925: Nationwide road numbering system and adoption of US shield road marker
• 1933: "King Kong" premiers
• 1938: Martin Niemoller sentenced to 7 years in prison by the Nazis
• 1946: Ho Chi Minh elected president of North Vietnam
• 1962: Wilt Chamberlain scores 100 points--but his greatest record is that one season he played every minute of every game including overtimes.
• 1965: "The Sound of Music" released
• 1968: Peggy Fleming wins her third straight world title
• 1969: First test flight of the Concorde
• 1983: Sony and Philips introduce compact disc recording
• 2004: Colts sign Peyton Manning to a 7-year $98 million contract
• Born: Sam Houston, Dr. Seuss, Mel Ott, Desi Arnaz, Mikhail Gorbachev, Tom Wolfe ["The Right Stuff"], Porky Pig, Denny Crum, Karen Carpenter, Laraine Newman, Ian Woosnam, Daniel Craig, Bryce Dalas Howard, 
• Died: John Wesley, DH Lawrence, Howard Carter [King Tut's Tomb], Dusty Springfield

Thought:

Yesterday, I asked did you feel rich. Today the question for me is do I feel alive? My feet hit the floor and I felt both of them. I opened my eyes and things looked familiar. I ate breakfast and it seemed real. Am I alive? My watch says my heart rate is 52. My blood sugar was 100. Am I alive? How do I tell if I am alive?

Colossians offers the answer. I am reading 2:13-14 today. It tells me that although my heart was beating, my lungs were functioning, my blood was flowing, my mind was thinking, before Christ, I was dead. I have mentioned before a quip from my former law partner. We would encounter a situation and look at each other and say--"Dog on the interstate, dead and doesn't know it." You see a dog running down the middle of the median on the interstate. The dog looks alive and even happy. But you know the odds are that dog is dead because in trying to cross the traffic, it will be hit and killed. Then I look around at the people--are they like a dog on the interstate--dead and don't realize it. They are moving, working, playing--but without Christ they are dead. 

What transferred me from death to life? Jesus defeated death. He rose from the grave. And the good news is that for all who accept his gift of life, we are raised with Him. He cancelled the death sentence. He nailed a copy of my debt to the cross and marked it paid in full. Now I am alive. 

So this morning, I am thanking God for paying my debt. I am praising Him for giving me life. I am asking Him what His instructions are for my day. He says, Larry, introduce me to those who think they are alive but are dead. This made me think--if there was a deadly plague and I knew the antidote, would I tell everyone how to get it. Or would I simply let them die from the plague. There is a deadly plague. Jesus is the cure. Larry, will you let the people know. 

Blessings

Larry