Dear friends,
Have you ever heard of someone getting a speeding ticket for going 48 kilometres an hour? That’s what I thought after getting pulled over while driving in Lachine last month. For those who aren’t familiar with the boroughs of Montreal, Lachine is close to Dorval, where the airport is located. The police officer informed me that the speed limit in all of Lachine is 30 kilometres an hour and that next year, this will be the new speed limit in all the boroughs of Montreal. For years, there have been signs along Lakeshore Road in Dorval and Lachine telling motorists in a hurry to take the highway. With all the construction taking place on Quebec roads, this option doesn’t guarantee a faster journey and with very reduced speed limits on streets, motorists may be steaming in more ways than one this summer. Of course, I am grateful that the cost of the fine was less than it might have been. I also know that this infraction helped me to consider the safety of children in neighbourhoods like Lachine, where many children and teens are outside and focused on other things than watching out for motorists.
Speaking of focus, how are you doing spiritually? When we get tired and overwhelmed by the challenges that come our way, we may lose our focus and forget that God is watching out for us and waiting for us to fix our attention on Him and trust Him to guide us. This past week, I have been reading the first part of the book of Joshua. A couple of things that have impressed me are that Joshua rose early in the morning and that he passed on what he learned from the Lord. For too many years, I enjoyed staying up late and not rising early. In recent years, I have found that the early morning hours are the best time of the day to commune with the Lord.
In Joshua 10, the successor to Moses exhorted the people with the same words that the Lord had said to him in Joshua 8: “Do not be afraid, nor be dismayed.” Fear is the first human emotion recorded in the Bible, when Adam hid from God in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:10). Praise God that the blood that the Lord Jesus shed on the cross of Calvary for our redemption removes our sin as far as the east is from the west! The Lord Jesus Christ echoed the words that Joshua heard when He told John not to be afraid (please see the Scripture for the weekend).
Scripture for the weekend: “I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold, I am alive for ever and ever. And I hold the keys of death and Hades.” Revelation 1:18 (NIV)
Thought for the weekend: “After all, there are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says, in the end, ‘Thy will be done.’ All that are in Hell, choose it.” – Joni Eareckson Tada (from “The New Women’s Devotional Bible”)
By His grace,
Steve