BBD 01.14.09 In the Long Run
Posted by: wrather <wrather@...>
The Burning Bush websites have received visits from more than 150 countries.
Celebrating 10 years online since January 31, 1998. Since June 8, 1998 the
Burning Bush Devotional has been spreading the truth of God's Word to more
than 11,000 subscribers across the world.
<Scott Montgomery please contact Ed Wrather at edwrather@theburningbush.org>
The Burning Bush Devotional
Welcome to the 71 new subscribers since January 1, 2009!!
01.14.09
In the Long Run
My Son, attention to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let
them depart from your eyes; keep them in the midst of your heart; for they
are life to those who find them, and health to all their flesh. - Proverbs
4:20-22.
Ponder the path of your feet, and let all your ways be established. Do not
turn to the right or the left; remove your foot from evil. - Proverbs
4:26-27.
In 1967, Bo Black was a 21-year-old cheerleader at the University of
Wisconsin. Playboy magazine came to the Madison campus that year to
photograph women of the Big Ten Conference. Bo Black was on the cover of the
magazine for that issue. Thirty-three years later Bo Black was the director
of Milwaukee's Summerfest music festival when Kellyn, Bo's 20-year-old
daughter, was out shopping and was shocked to see her mother's photo (the
same one that was on the cover of the 1967 Playboy magazine) on a shower
curtain. She bought the curtain and counted her mother's picture on it
twenty-two times.
Stephanie is Bo's oldest daughter and she was looking through a Playboy
catalog at a friend's when she saw her mother's photo on a shirt. A Playboy
magazine spokesman said that Bo Black had most likely signed away any of her
rights to the photo. The spokesman made this statement: "For the most part,
Playboy retains all the rights to the photos it uses. We can use the photos
in any way we want."
Now about nine years after Kellyn's discovery of her mother's Playboy photos
she is following in her mother's footsteps and has auditioned for the 55th
edition of Playboy's centerfold. A decision more than 40 years ago still
affects and in a way overshadows the life of Bo Black. What a lesson to all
of us about the long lasting consequences of the decisions we make today.
Far more shocking is the decision by Natalie Dylan to auction off her
virginity. She has appeared on CNN and her sister is a prostitute at a
brothel in Nevada. It appears that the decision of her sister to be a
prostitute has led Natalie also into prostitution. Of course, it is said
that the money will be used to pay for further education and financial
stability. However, you have to wonder what affect it will have on any
children that Natalie may one day have and grandchildren when they learn
about what their mother or grandmother did. Will it lead them to do
something even more shocking and degenerate?
The writer of Proverbs was so very right because each step we make along the
path of life is important. We should consider carefully whether our
decisions are being made according to the Word of God. The only way to
really do that is to so imbed God's Word into our hearts and lives that we
automatically do what is right. We are told in Proverbs to keep His Word
before our eyes and in the midst of our hearts.
In the long run what all of your friends are doing or all of your friends
(or even family members) are saying you should do may not be the best
option. In the long run removing your feet from evil will bring blessing,
joy, and life to you and very possibly to your descendants as well.
Copyright © 2009. Ed Wrather. Permission is given for use of the devotionals
on a non-profit basis with source credited. The Burning Bush website has
been online since January 31, 1998. On June 8, 1998 the email version of the
Burning Bush Devotional was first sent.
Prayer Requests: Please pray for Malachi, Cody, and Mica who are young boys
with cancer. Many prayer needs are posted at the Burning Bush website on the
Prayer Request page. You can also post your prayer requests there and they
will be forwarded to the Burning Bush Prayer Group (Of course, I am always
in need of prayer - please pray for me.).
If you enjoy the devotional please recommend it to your friends. They may
subscribe by sending a blank email to
burningbushdevo-subscribe@welovegod.org
Two videos of my sermons are posted on Godtube at:
http://www.godtube.com/Wrather
You can listen to services at my son, Clark Wrather's church (First Baptist
Church of Broken Bow, Oklahoma) live on Sunday mornings at 10:55am CST
http://www.kkbifm.com/
There is a complete devotional archive at the old Burning Bush website. Here
is the URL: http://www.theburningbush.org/33.html.
You can unsubscribe to the pure text version of the devotional by sending a
blank email to burningbushdevo-unsubscribe@welovegod.org and then respond to
the confirmation email.
You may subscribe to the html text group by sending a blank email to
burningbushhtml-subscribe@welovegod.org and you may unsubscribe by sending a
blank email to burningbushhtml-unsubscribe@welovegod.org and then respond to
the confirmation email.