Search the scripture and found life

Lenten Devotional – Day 10

God’s word: ^“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path. I have taken an oath and confirmed it, that I will follow your righteous laws. I have suffered much; preserve my life, O LORD, according to your word. Accept, O LORD, the willing praise of my mouth, and teach me your laws. Though I constantly take my life in my hands,
I will not forget your law.” (Psalm 119:105-109)

Inspiration: Jacob de Shazer was sent as one of Jimmy Dootlittle’s raiders on Japan on April 18, 1942. He was an atheist, believing in no God. During the air attack his plane was hit by enemy anti-aircraft bullets and he was forced to bail out. He was captured and imprisoned by the Japanese and thought certainly his life was approaching the end. He saw two of his companions shot by a firing squad and saw another die of slow starvation.

During the long months of imprisonment he pondered the question of why the Japanese hated him and why he hated them. He began to recall some of the things he had heard about Christianity.

Boldly, he asked his jailers if they could get him a Bible. At first they laughed boisterously as at a good joke, grew ugly, and warned him to stop making a nuisance of himself. But he kept asking. A year-and-a-half later, May 1944, a guard finally brought him a Bible, flung it at him, and said, “Three weeks you have. Three weeks, and then I take away.” True to his word, in three weeks the guard took the Bible away and de Shazer never saw it again.

However, in those three weeks of intensive searching, meditating, and delving into the meaning of life and humanity’s ultimate destiny, a change came about. Later he was released from Japanese captivity and returned home. In 1948, de Shazer, his wife, and infant son were on their way back to Japan as missionaries, all because he asked for a Bible and a Japanese guard gave him one for three weeks. He had searched the Scriptures and found life. —Earl C. Willer

Prayer: Pray today for the worldwide distribution of the Bible and change the lives of many people. Pray also to be able to involve in the ministry of spreading of the word of God.

Sunday School teachers appreciation Sunday at San Francisco

Be blessed!