St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital’s website reports dramatic changes in cancer survival rates. For instance, in 1962 only four percent of children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (cancer of the blood) survived; today, the survival rate is 94 percent. In 1962, only seven percent of children with non-Hodgkin lymphoma (cancer of infection-fighting cells) survived; today, 85 percent overcome that disease.
Many adult maladies boast similar statistics, including breast cancer and heart disease. In one way or another, we’re all beneficiaries of medical science’s incredible advances.
What if researchers, upon making their discoveries, had determined, “We’re not going to tell anyone about this. It’s personal. Who are we to impose our cure on someone else?”
Ludicrous? Of course. If someone found the cure to AIDS, or diabetes or Alzheimer’s and withheld that information, they might be viewed as murderers.
Yet everywhere we confront an equally devastating disease, yet many are chastised for offering what they believe to be the cure. This disease is not physical but spiritual: Sin. It takes many forms – lust, greed, selfishness, dishonesty, murder, abuse, etc. And we’re all afflicted. The Bible states, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
The cure, according to the Scriptures, is freely available: “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).
But there’s just one cure, Jesus Christ. It’s not multiple-choice. Perhaps that seems narrow, but if physicians tell me there is one vaccine for the flu, or one cure for a disease, I won’t accuse them of being rigid and narrow-minded. I’ll take the cure.
Understanding Jesus provides the cure to the depravity infecting all of humanity, I’ll communicate this cure to anyone willing to consider it. Anyone can reject the cure, but I won’t be a murderer for failing to tell them about it
Showing posts with label kitchen sink. Show all posts
Showing posts with label kitchen sink. Show all posts
Monday, April 12, 2010
Monday, August 31, 2009
Two Are Better Than One
Ecclesiastes 4:9 says, “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work.” Over the weekend, my son-in-law, David, and I experienced the practical value of that biblical adage.
Our new kitchen sink had been draining poorly for several weeks, frequently backing up on both sides. Even a plumber seemed stumped at identifying the dilemma. Finally, David (a whiz at figuring out all things mechanical) and I (people that know me understand “Bob” and “mechanical” don’t belong in the same sentence) decided to take things into our own hands.
The problem, we surmised, was a blocked air vent on the roof. Until recently I didn’t even know a vent was required to expedite water flow – but since it was evident the pipes were not clogged, we decided to explore that possibility.
Because experience has taught me that when the term “do-it-yourselfer” was invented no one had me in mind, I wisely didn’t try climbing onto the roof until David became available.
It turned out to be a fairly simple procedure, much easier than I had anticipated, but without David’s instructions from below, there’s no telling how I might have complicated matters. Details aren’t important, but suffice it to say that if you have a predominantly right-brain thinker (me) to perform a left-brain task, he’s going to need help.
I was the guy on the roof working on the vent (you might say it was my attempt at getting up in the world). But without David’s handy “clog-buster” water hose attachment and his insightful guidance, I might still be up there, scratching my head and trying to figure out what to do.
It’s true that two are better than one. Our kitchen sink is now draining properly – one small step for mankind, one giant step for me.
Our new kitchen sink had been draining poorly for several weeks, frequently backing up on both sides. Even a plumber seemed stumped at identifying the dilemma. Finally, David (a whiz at figuring out all things mechanical) and I (people that know me understand “Bob” and “mechanical” don’t belong in the same sentence) decided to take things into our own hands.
The problem, we surmised, was a blocked air vent on the roof. Until recently I didn’t even know a vent was required to expedite water flow – but since it was evident the pipes were not clogged, we decided to explore that possibility.
Because experience has taught me that when the term “do-it-yourselfer” was invented no one had me in mind, I wisely didn’t try climbing onto the roof until David became available.
It turned out to be a fairly simple procedure, much easier than I had anticipated, but without David’s instructions from below, there’s no telling how I might have complicated matters. Details aren’t important, but suffice it to say that if you have a predominantly right-brain thinker (me) to perform a left-brain task, he’s going to need help.
I was the guy on the roof working on the vent (you might say it was my attempt at getting up in the world). But without David’s handy “clog-buster” water hose attachment and his insightful guidance, I might still be up there, scratching my head and trying to figure out what to do.
It’s true that two are better than one. Our kitchen sink is now draining properly – one small step for mankind, one giant step for me.
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