Daily Devotional #1,601

I went with a group of kids and parents on a short train trip to a nearby town that has a wonderful ice cream  shop. We get to ride for a bit on an Amtrak train, have ice cream and then catch the train home. Whenever we  do this, we get a good crew out to experience what it is like to ride on a real train. Our train out was late, and  the kids got antsy waiting on the platform. We were having a fun time even while we waited but we got  nervous because kids are not used to a speeding train coming down tracks just feet away from them. On the  platform they have a wide, bright yellow line that has printed on it “Do not cross yellow line”. I was frankly  pretty surprised that it was so close to the tracks! Some of the boys wanted to get right to the edge of the  platform, but we told them in no way should they cross that yellow line until the train arrived and came to a  complete stop. But the temptation was just too much. Even with us standing next to them, we could see them  step over that line with one foot. And then another tried to get two feet over the line. We kept pulling them  back and telling them that this is there for their protection. One youngster saw something between the tracks  and commented to me that he really wanted to go out and grab it from between the rails! They knew it was  wrong. They were constantly reminded that this was for their safety. And they just seemed to not be able to stay  on the right side of the line. I thought about that…they knew they shouldn’t do this one thing…and yet that was  the one thing they spent their time trying to do! And I couldn’t help but think that is the way we all are. It  started with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. God said to them, you can do whatever you want, go  wherever you want, eat whatever you want…except this one thing. And that’s the one thing they did! The  Apostle Paul wrote about the same struggle that he had. He said in the Book of Romans that he discovered a  principle of life…that when he wanted to do right…he inevitably did what is wrong. He said that there was  another power in him that was at war with his mind, and that power is determined to make him a slave to the sin  that is still within him. But how do we get through this kind of battle? We can be rescued through Jesus Christ.  So, when you come to that line that God says “Do Not Cross” don’t try to do that on your own. If you really  want to do the right thing, to be saved from your own sin and self-centeredness…the rescue is just a prayer  away. And it will come through Jesus Christ our Lord. Here’s our Bible verse for today…  
Romans 7:24-25 BSB What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? (25) Thanks  be to God, through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with my mind I serve the law of God, but with my flesh I  serve the law of sin.  
Remember I’m praying for you!  
With love, PJ