Like many pastors, I customarily peruse the headlines each morning, primarily to stay abreast of what all is happening in the world. But I have another motive as well. I have learned that the best illustrations come from life.
Of course, if one is not careful, consistently reviewing the headlines each morning can bring about a sense of doom and gloom. And even if one is selective in what is read, he or she still tends to get a view of humanity’s behavior that only serves to underscore our inherent wickedness.
That is why is have intentionally begun a collection of stories that reflect good news for a change. And one such story caught my eye a couple of months ago. It was titled “Man Reunited With $127G Prosthetic Leg After Losing It While Riding Jet Ski”.
As the headline indicates, the story is about a man who was reunited with his $127,000 prosthetic leg three days after he lost it while riding a jet ski on the Hudson River. Members of the Corinth Fire Department searched for and finally found the detached leg after the man lost it in a backed up portion of the Hudson river in Saratoga County, New York.
Even then, it took the divers three days to accomplish their task, having begun the search late on Thursday and not finding the lost leg until Sunday. When they finally found it, it was protruding from the mud on the bottom in about fifteen feet of water, with only the artificial toes sticking out.
The unidentified owner of the leg told officials the prosthetic leg was made in Europe and had expensive electronic components. According to Captain Derek Briner of the Corinth Fire Department:
“He said when he lost his leg in a motorcycle accident it truly affected him, but after he so-called lost his leg for a second time, it almost affected him more… The smile on [the owner's] face made what we do well worth it. For him to have it back and turn it on and have it still function correctly from what he could tell - he got his life back.”
As I read this wonderful story of good news, I could not help but think about another story with similar components. This story, that of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, is also a story of good news.
It, too, is a story about individuals who lost something dear to them. It is the Biblical story of men and women losing their spiritual footing, as it were, through sin, and being unable to stand before almighty God.
But just when all hope was lost, another individual, Jesus Christ, came to their rescue. He dove deep down into the grave and, after three days, retrieved their life from the muck and mire of sin, and returned it to them on Sunday when He rose from that grave. In the process, men and women discovered the joy of knowing what it is like to have one’s life restored to them!
And that is the single best bit of good news the world has ever been given! As the Apostle John so famously puts it (in chapter 3, verse 16 of his New Testament Gospel): “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
ARTICLE SOURCE: The original article was attributed to Chris Irvine (@chrisirvine86), Senior News Editor at Fox News and can be found at: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/06/26/man-reunited-with-127g-prosthetic-leg-after-losing-it-while-riding-jet-ski.html.
SCRIPTURE SOURCE: https://biblehub.com/john/3-16.htm.
Of course, if one is not careful, consistently reviewing the headlines each morning can bring about a sense of doom and gloom. And even if one is selective in what is read, he or she still tends to get a view of humanity’s behavior that only serves to underscore our inherent wickedness.
That is why is have intentionally begun a collection of stories that reflect good news for a change. And one such story caught my eye a couple of months ago. It was titled “Man Reunited With $127G Prosthetic Leg After Losing It While Riding Jet Ski”.
As the headline indicates, the story is about a man who was reunited with his $127,000 prosthetic leg three days after he lost it while riding a jet ski on the Hudson River. Members of the Corinth Fire Department searched for and finally found the detached leg after the man lost it in a backed up portion of the Hudson river in Saratoga County, New York.
Even then, it took the divers three days to accomplish their task, having begun the search late on Thursday and not finding the lost leg until Sunday. When they finally found it, it was protruding from the mud on the bottom in about fifteen feet of water, with only the artificial toes sticking out.
The unidentified owner of the leg told officials the prosthetic leg was made in Europe and had expensive electronic components. According to Captain Derek Briner of the Corinth Fire Department:
“He said when he lost his leg in a motorcycle accident it truly affected him, but after he so-called lost his leg for a second time, it almost affected him more… The smile on [the owner's] face made what we do well worth it. For him to have it back and turn it on and have it still function correctly from what he could tell - he got his life back.”
As I read this wonderful story of good news, I could not help but think about another story with similar components. This story, that of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, is also a story of good news.
It, too, is a story about individuals who lost something dear to them. It is the Biblical story of men and women losing their spiritual footing, as it were, through sin, and being unable to stand before almighty God.
But just when all hope was lost, another individual, Jesus Christ, came to their rescue. He dove deep down into the grave and, after three days, retrieved their life from the muck and mire of sin, and returned it to them on Sunday when He rose from that grave. In the process, men and women discovered the joy of knowing what it is like to have one’s life restored to them!
And that is the single best bit of good news the world has ever been given! As the Apostle John so famously puts it (in chapter 3, verse 16 of his New Testament Gospel): “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
ARTICLE SOURCE: The original article was attributed to Chris Irvine (@chrisirvine86), Senior News Editor at Fox News and can be found at: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/06/26/man-reunited-with-127g-prosthetic-leg-after-losing-it-while-riding-jet-ski.html.
SCRIPTURE SOURCE: https://biblehub.com/john/3-16.htm.