2 Samuel 15:6, “In this manner Absalom dealt with all Israel who came to the king for judgment; so Absalom stole away the hearts of the men of Israel.”

2Samel 18:14-15, “Then Joab said, “I will not waste time here with you.” So he took three spears in his hand and thrust them through the heart of Absalom while he was yet alive in the midst of the oak. And ten young men who carried Joab’s armor gathered around and struck Absalom and killed him.”

Matthew 6:14-16, “Then one of the twelve, named Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, “What are you willing to give me to betray Him to you?” And they weighed out thirty pieces of silver to him. From then on he began looking for a good opportunity to betray Jesus.”

Matthew 27:3-4, “Then when Judas, who had betrayed Him, saw that He had been condemned, he felt remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” But they said, “What is that to us? See to that yourself!”

To No Useful End

During an overhaul in February, 1942, fire jeopardized the Lafayette, the former French liner Normandie. The water that was pumped in to save her capsized the ship at dockside. After eighteen months of intense salvage she was raised and placed in dry-dock – but to no avail. Her hull was so deteriorated and her machinery in such poor condition that further work was impractical. Although the allies thought the ship was worth the time, effort, and money necessary to raise it from death, it wasn’t. Too many months spent buried in the water had ruined it for any useful purpose.

Life without God is like the raising of the Lafayette. You spend enormous amounts of time, money, and energy, only to find it useless. It is so sin-stained and corrupted that it hardly serves any purpose in this life, let alone in the life beyond.

Courtesy of Speaker’s Sourcebook of New Illustrations by Virgil Hurley copyright © 1995 by Word, Incorporated. Used by permission.

*Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960,1962,1963,1968,1971,1972,1973,1975,1977,1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Applicable Quotations

Our grand business is, not to see what lies dimly at a distance, but to do what lies closely at hand. – Carlyle

Keep us, Lord, so awake in the duties of our callings that we may sleep in thy peace and wake in thy glory. – Donne

Let us have faith that right makes might; and in that faith let us to the end dare to do our duty as we understand it. – Lincoln

Let men laugh, if they will when you sacrifice desire to duty. You have time and eternity to rejoice in. – Parker