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Devotional

The Hiding Place August 20, 2008
Over the Labor Day weekend we will be taking a group to the Netherlands. It will be a trip to a large water park and the beach. However, we also plan on stopping to see the home of Corrie ten Boom. During WWII the ten Boom family hid Jews in their home. Corrie and her family we caught and sent to a concentration camp. All the her family died in the camps, but she lived to tell the story of God’s love and travel around the world speaking of God’s love and forgiveness. In preparation for the trip those going on the trip gathered at our home tonight for dinner and then we watched the movie “The Hiding Place” which is all about the journey of the ten Boom family and Corrie and her sister struggle in the camps. I was pretty emotional as I watched the film. I was most moved by two very simple truths of the scriptures. The first is that if you really believe in the God of the Bible you have to DO something. It is not just enough to believe in your heart and then do nothing. I believe that we are saved by grace and NOT by works. But our faith and our works are more closely related than many want to believe. And, sometimes it means doing something that will cost you your life. As the family is being arrested the father is given the opportunity to stay out of prison if he will just promise not to help the Jews any more. And he says, “Take me to prison. I will help anyone who knocks on my door looking for help.” The second truth is that God is in control no matter what. This is really hard to believe as things get really bad. The movie was very good at showing how “ridiculous” it is to believe in a good, loving, powerful God in the light of the camps. And yet if we really believe the Bible God is up to something and we, if we are true believers must hold to that conviction. Neither of these truths are new or profound. But I think we often louse sight of how much they will affect our daily life if we will believe them as deep convictions.

Comments

Responding to Needs by Julia August 22, 2008
I had a nightmare about this devotional! No, I was not suddenly a member of the ten Boom family. Instead, I dreamed last night I was in a nursery where the babies were unsupervised and neglected, while flies and other insects were feeding on the spilled food and terrorizing the babies, none of whom could do anything for themselves. I thought, "Can't wait to get out of here; this is not my problem!" Then I thought, "If I were one of these babies I'd be traumatized. I can at least kill some of the bugs." (Dreams are hardly ever rational; calling Child Protective Services didn't occur to me).

The real nightmare was how easily I could justify turning away from these babies--and that was just a dream. How often do I turn away in REAL life?

Of course, today I got a mailing from World Vision asking for donations to help treat children infected with roundworms. At least I get a chance to kill a few bugs in real life...

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