I have found something "new" to thank the Lord for, and also something new for me to repent of!
(a) I am thankful that I did not go down with that greatest of all ships, the so-called "unsinkable" TITANIC that went down well before I was born.
(b) So someone asks, How can you be thankful for some supposed "deliverance" before you were even born?
(c) The answer is that corporately I share the guilt of those people who gloried in the handiwork of man and boasted that they had built something that even "God cannot sink." That was idolatry pure and simple; and since I have been born with a sinful nature which I have inherited from the fallen Adam, my mind is what the Apostle Paul says is "carnal." Here's what Paul says:
(d) For "the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be" (Rom. 8:7).
(e) Wherever there is human idolatry, there you will find me, unless the Savior the Lord Jesus in His much more abounding grace has delivered me.
(f) Yes, I would have joined in the proud boasting of the masses in what we ourselves have built; if I had been there, I would have made every effort to get a ticket and get on the TITANIC on its maiden voyage, exulting in that pride of idolatry.
(g) I am a man, and I share in the idolatry of many men, over automobiles. (Women may not understand this; my wife never could understand it.)
(h) So I have found something "new" I hadn't realized, to repent for. That's a blessing right there--the privilege of the gift of repentance.
(i) It's time to thank the dear Lord that He has already saved us from this sin (and many others!) and has already given us this gift or repentance (repentance is not something that we "do" on our own--no one can repent unless the Lord in His great mercy gives him that gift; read Acts 5:31: Our "Prince and Saviour [gives] repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins".
(j) It's the Lord Himself through the Holy Spirit who takes the initiative in saving us!
(k) In His eternal kingdom not one of us will "boast" the slightest that we helped to save ourselves!
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
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