This verse speaks of a man who... - All The Good Seed Daily Devotionals for 2024

It will be as though a man fled from a lion, and a bear met him! Or as though he went into the house, leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him!
Amos 5:19

This verse speaks of a man who escapes from a lion and a bear. But then, at home and in supposed safety, he is bitten by a snake. Death was lurking where he possibly didn’t even suspect it!

In 1452, when the Ottoman army besieged Constantinople, the Eastern Roman soldiers around the last Byzantine Emperor Constantine XI (1404–1453) fought with the courage of desperation. But it was in vain. They lost the battle and the city with its works of art of inestimable value. Books with the wisdom of centuries were destroyed, burned or looted.

Why did the city fall? Because they had forgotten the Kerkaporta, a small side door in the wall! The door had no strategic military importance, so it was forgotten. But it was not bolted, not locked! Through it the enemy entered the city, at first cautiously, suspecting an ambush, then incredulously, then audaciously, then victoriously. A small act of carelessness, of indifference – and death was in the city.

How many relationships are destroyed by a single act, a click on the Internet, a night out ... just as in the beginning, when “by one man’s disobedience”, that of Adam, sin entered the world and was passed on to all men (Romans 5:19). All became sinners. That’s when death entered into the world!

But there is also the opposite: the miracle of God’s grace. Just as through one man came corruption, so through one man came salvation, through Jesus Christ. This time it was not a “door” to death – but to life! For Jesus is the door through which everyone can be saved! (John 10:9)

Today’s reading: 2 Kings 3:16-27 · John 17:9-19