Bent

Pastor Duck's Devotional 

Taiwan Church News 2631, August 4, 2002

Translated by David Alexander

See, this alone I found, that God made human beings straightforward,  but they have devised many schemes.(Ecclesiastes 7:29)

   Last Year A-tat bought a used car.  He couldn't afford a new one, so he bought one from the side of the road that had a red paper "for sale" sign on it.  He thought he got a very good deal. The car was neither new nor old, but the price was very low. Soon he learned why.

   The car made strange noises when he turned left, and two of the tires soon lost all their tread. He took it to a mechanic and was told that it had been in a serious accident.  The chassis was bent.  A repair could be done, but it would be expensive.    If he added the cost of repair to what he had paid for the car originally, it came to more than the price of a new car. A-tat had three choices: 1) Repair the car. 2) Continue to drive the unsafe and uneconomical car. 3) Sell the car at a great loss.  He did not like his choices, and was very sad. He wished someone else would pay for the repairs his car needed. 

     The writer of Ecclesiastes was a sad man.  If you read the book from beginning to end, it will make you sad, too. Nothing gave him pleasure for long. Everything disappointed him.  He had faith in God but no confidence in human beings. Like A-tat's car, humans were "bent."

     The good news of the gospel is that the price for repair has been paid.  In Jesus Christ our human perversity can be straightened.  As cars in need of  major repairs must be taken to the repair shop, humans needing straightening must be brought to Jesus.

     Have you been to Jesus? Are you willing to be straightened out?  Have you told anyone about it?

Prayer:  God who made us straightforward, straighten us again.  AMEN