| DRAWING A HOPE-FILLED LINE By Erwin Bourne—August 11, 2002 If man has no destiny, then he has no duty. No obligation, no responsibility. If man has no destiny, then he has no guidelines or goals. If he has no destiny, who is to say what is right or wrong. Life is reduced to weekends, paychecks and cheap thrills. The bottom line is disaster. Everything is indeed permitted if God does not exist, and man as a consequence is forlorn. He cannot find anything to depend on within or without himself. Value comes to be measured by two criteria, appearance and performance. Pretty tough system, isn’t it? Where does that leave the retarded, or the ugly or uneducated? Where does that place the aged and the handicapped? We become nameless numbers on mislaid lists. This is man’s value system. God’s plan is much brighter. With twinkling eyes God steps up to the philosopher’s blackboard, erases the never-ending ever-repeating circle of history, and replaces it with a line; a hope-filled, promising, slender line. And, looking over his shoulder to see if we are watching. He draws an arrow on the end. In God’s book, man is heading somewhere. He has an amazing destiny. Our value is inborn. Let’s study the classic case of the criminal crucified with Jesus. If any man deserved dying, this man probably did. If any fellow was ever a loser, this fellow topped the list. Perhaps that is why Jesus chose him to show what he thought of the human race. Maybe the only thing the criminal knew about the Messiah was what he now saw: a beaten, slashed, nail-suspended preacher. But something told him he had never been in better company. He had finally met the One to whom he should pray. “Any chance that you could put in a good word for me?” (Loose translation). “Consider it done.” Now why did Jesus do that? What did he have to gain by promising this desperado a place of honor at the banquet table? Now listen closely. Jesus’ love does not depend upon what we do for him. You don’t have to look nice or perform well. Your value is inborn. A prayer is all you have. by Erwin Bourne <Outreach_amazon@yahoo.com>
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