Learning From Other’s Mistakes
Scripture References: Jeremiah 7:12; 1 Corinthians 10:11
On October 25, 1983, United States forces invaded the island of Granada, in the eastern Caribbean. Hard-line Marxists had seized control of the government, assassinated the previous ruler, and welcomed Cuban and Russian military support. To secure the release of American students on the island, and to answer appeals from other nations in the eastern Caribbean, the United States intervened. The next day the Marxist leader of Surinam, fearing for his safety, expelled the Cuban ambassador and one hundred Cubans working in forestry, health, and agriculture projects. Knowing the Cubans had plotted the assassination of the Granadian leader, Surinam’s leader resolved not to be the next victim.
Give him credit: he learned from another person’s mistake. He didn’t want to become another casualty of Russian and Cuban imperialism, so lie ousted the people he was sure would kill him if he ever refused their orders. Sad to say, many of us refuse to learn anything from other people’s mistakes and failures. Experience is the best teacher, we say, but do we have to experience the same failures, mistakes, and tragedies of others before us? Must we keep repeating, time after time, the failures that mar history in endless generations? Isn’t it wiser for us to learn from the past, rather than to simply repeat its mistakes?
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD 