The Lifetime Pass That Was Never Used
The Toronto Ward Museum tells us the story of a nineteenth-century man named Isapo Muxika. He is more commonly known as Crowfoot. He was the chief of the Siksika Indian tribe. He was known for his peaceful relations with Canada during a time of great violence.
When the Canadian Pacific Railroad was being built and they needed to build part of it on his land, the Canadian government approached Crowfoot with an offer. They said, “If you will give us the land we need for the railroad, you can ride it whenever and wherever you want.”
So they made a deal. They finished the Canadian Pacific Railroad and Crowfoot received a lifetime pass. It was put in a beautiful case. Crowfoot is said to have carried that case around his neck for the rest of his life. It entitled him to go wherever he wanted where the railroad could take him.
There was just one problem. As far as we know, Crowfoot never stepped foot on that train. He had the right to travel anywhere he wanted, but he never availed himself of that right.
There are a lot of Christians like Crowfoot; they possess God’s promises; they quote them; they frame them; they hang them on their walls; they even post them on social media, but they never actually make use of them.
Charles Haddon Spurgeon once said, “God never gives us a promise he does not intend for us to use.” So what should you and I do? Read them, get to know them, and then apply those promises which speak to your current condition, whatever that condition might be.
"Whoever gives heed to instruction prospers, and blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord" (Proverbs 16:20).
"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock" (Matthew 7:24).
Devotional Crumbs
Crumbs are something we leave for the busboy at the restaurant to worry about. They are small pieces of evidence that someone has enjoyed a meal. However, God's word offers us crumbs as well.
A woman came to the Lord for healing for her daughter and Jesus said, "It is not fitting to take the children's (Jews) bread and cast it to the dogs" (Matthew 15:26). But what she said in response to is the attitude Jesus looks for in each of us. She said, "True Lord, but even the dogs eat of the crumbs that fall from the master's table" (Matthew 15:27).
As far as Jesus was concerned, this Gentile woman expressed great faith because she understood the power of just a little crumb when that crumb comes from God's table ... from God's Word. She knew that just a crumb from Jesus could make all of the difference.
"I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread" (Job 23:12).
Go In Peace?
Did you know that major cities across the country hand out thousands of free one-way bus tickets to the homeless every year? It's called the Homeless Relocation Program. Its purpose is to ship "the problem" somewhere else. Click the link to source above for the 18-month nationwide investigation by the Guardian, which looks into what happens to these people at the end of their journey.
God brings needy people into our lives to give us the opportunity to grow in our faith. To take advantage of these opportunities, we must resist the temptation to pass them on to someone else. The Christian faith is nothing, if not a call to action. James wrote, "Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, "[Here's a bus ticket] Go in peace; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead" (James 2:15-17).