Monday, January 19, 2015
"But if the wicked man turns from
all his sins which he has committed and observes all My statutes and practices
justice and righteousness, he shall surely live; he shall not
die. All his transgressions which he has committed will not be remembered
against him; because of his righteousness which he has practiced he will
live" (Ezekiel
18:20-21).
Some months ago I wrote several morning messages titled "Don't Get Too Comfortable." In those messages I listed the steps God had taken me through to reach the plateau I was comfortably enjoying. But, as an old country preacher once said, “When we reach a point in our life when we are resting comfortably on that plateau, God comes along with His chainsaw and cuts the limb out from under us.
With the help of the boys I was caring for, I had honed my skills well. I felt I was just where God wanted me and I was ready to dig my well and settle in for the rest of my working days. But that was my plan not God's plan. How many know when God wants to move us He uses many tactics to get our attention?
Although I had worked with several thousand boys who were hurting deep inside, He sent two that penetrated to the depths of my heart; I have often said they were the real motivators of Eagle Village. They are as real and close to me today, fifty years later as they were the day they booked into my Section at Juvy and into my life.
This morning, when I awoke, the story of Jesus on the cross between the two criminals came to my mind and I thought that the story of my two boys was very much like that story. Both had reached a plateau in their lives where their decisions caught up to them, and they were going to ‘Pay-the-Piper’- for their devious ways. I had no doubt that Ted, the super chief of the "Bloods Gang", had either killed or severely injured one or more rival gang members. That was his life.
And then there was Dennis, who was from all outward appearances was a quiet sort of lad that one might think was afraid of his own shadow. But, due to his weaknesses, he was unable to keep from doing those nasty things that gets one locked up and sent off to one of the State’s finer (just a pun folks) finishing schools.