Dial Daily Bread

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread":

We are soon to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the great 1906 San Francisco earthquake. The Smithsonian Magazine of course has run a special. An article tells about the heroic efforts of Frank Leach and his workers who had water and hoses and managed to save the U. S. Mint when vicious flames melted the window glasses and started eating on the woodwork inside. All the gold in the basement was saved, and the great building (the granite was popping due to the intense heat).

 

But that’s not the point of this little article. Yes, “a city of 400,000 was flattened by a wallop of nature,” the Katrina of that generation. “An estimated 3000 people died as a direct or indirect result of the quake and the fires that followed. More than half of San Francisco’s residents were left homeless.” The Smithsonian article also rivets home a gospel truth.

 

A tiny group of survivors plan to celebrate, come the centennial. Frances Duffy, 11 months old at the time, appreciates her good fortune. My belief system, she says, “is that if you can survive something like that, the rest of life is gravy.” That’s our point today.

 

The fact that you can read these words is evidence that you have survived something whereas others, just as worthy, did not. Every one of us is a survivor of the death that is “the wages of sin” (Rom. 6:23). If the Father had not loved “the world” and given His Son to take upon Himself its “wages” of death, we would all be in an eternal grave now.

 

Wise, thoughtful people, pause in life’s busy tempo and ponder that. For them, “the rest of life is gravy.” No matter what our pain or affliction might be, it takes on a meaning that invests life with heart-lifting joy. We are co-laborers with the Son of God, partakers with Him of His sufferings (1 Peter 4:13). The little group of centenarians who will celebrate April 18 at 5:12 a.m. can teach us all to celebrate the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ by yielding our lives and all we have to Him who died for us. Living such a life “henceforth” is “gravy” (cf. 2 Cor. 5:14, 15).

Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Please forward these messages to your friends and encourage them to subscribe. The "Dial Daily Bread" web page resides at: http://1888message.org/dailybread/

To subscribe send an e-mail message with "subscribe" in the body of the message to: <dailybread@1888message.org>

To un-subscribe send an e-mail message with "un-subscribe" in the body of the message to: <dailybread@1888message.org>

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Robert J. Wieland's inspirational "Dial Daily Bread" phone message is available via e-mail to anyone who wishes to receive a daily portion of uplifting Good News. "Dial Daily Bread" is FREE. Due to travel or other circumstances, there may be intervals when "Dial Daily Bread" will not be sent.