daily devo: "THIS IS GOD’S DAY"
Rev. Reuben K. Youngdahl, grandfather to Eric Youngdahl and Senior Pastor of Mount Olivet Lutheran Church from 1938-1968, was widely known and respected for his pastoral leadership and his uplifting messages of God's love. These messages were published into devotional books so that people might find hope in the promises found in Jesus Christ.
One of his many books was titled, "Going God’s Way.” Pastor Youngdahl issues the challenge for people to go ahead and live today in the faithfulness of God. In his words: “Live each day by itself. Begin and end each one in communion with God. Life’s meaning will be made clear, and its challenge will summon you to follow the way of the Lord, and claim the triumphant life He is able to give you.”
April 12
Foster a Forgiving Spirit
“Forgive, I pray you, the transgressions of your brothers and their sin.” -Genesis 50.17
Some years ago there was an outbreak of anti-Semitism on one Eastern college campus. A Gentile attacked a Jewish student with such violence that, fearing he had killed him, he fled in panic. The law never caught up with him, and therefore he was never punished. He lived incognito in a distant part of the country. After some years he prospered, even being elected as an officer of his company. However, when a serious problem arose in the business, an emergency call was sent East for a specialist. To his horror who should the specialist be, but this Jew he had nearly killed!
Bent and crippled though he was, the Jew sensed the situation at once. He said quietly, “I know what must be going through your mind. Let me just say that, as far as I am concerned, the whole affair is a closed incident. I did spend two years in a hospital, which gave me a lot of time to think things through. More than ever I determined to make good, not only for myself, but for others like you, who for some strange reason or another, do not think that Jews are entitled to the full advantages and opportunities of our American democracy. My deformity became a driving force, and while it seemed for long an insurmountable handicap, I now tell you honestly that I bear no ill will toward you. On the contrary, I intend to throw all of our resources behind your organization to make it possible for you even to undertake a large expansion here.”
Think of how transformed our world would become if, instead of harboring hatreds, each one of us would give back a forgiving spirit. How much happier we should all be. How much further advanced our world would be, too! But better than all this, we would be doing God’s will.
You ask, “How often should one forgive his fellow men?”
Jesus answers, “Not seven times, but seventy times seven.”
TODAY’S THOUGHT: Man needs a greater might than atomic power for constructive purposes. Most of all he needs atoning power.
