Three New Devotions

The Cry of the Lost

The northeastern states are treacherous for truck drivers. There is a scarcity of land and therefore a scarcity of truck parking. Tolls are expensive. Roads were laid out before there were automobiles and it is often difficult for large trucks to go there. Low clearances of the type which will take the roof off your truck abound.

It is in the northeast that you will most often hear the "cry of the lost" coming over the CB radio. It is the cry for help from a lost truck driver who has attempted to follow directions but now finds himself in a bad situation. On a recent trip to eastern New York I heard such a cry over the radio, but I could not help. I am from Texas and do not know eastern New York. The driver needed an answer from someone who knew the way, a driver familiar witht the local area.

To be a big truck driver lost in the northeast is a desparate, dangerous predicament. Being lost anywhere is a predicament when you are driving a vehicle that may need half a football field to safely turn around. Only a fool would willingly subject himself to this predicament. It is no wonder that modern electronic navigational tools are now widely used by truck drivers.

The Bible often uses the term "lost". Jesus twice in the book of Matthew referred to "the lost sheep of the house of Israel". The prophet Jeremiah writes in the Old Testament: My people hath been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray, they have turned them away on the mountains: they have gone from mountain to hill, they have forgotten their restingplace. Luke tells us the parable of the lost sheep. Luke 15.

The Bible describes those who do not know the Lord as lost. Their end is not good. It is better to know the One who knows your future destination, the One who can save and protect you.


The Warning Cry

There is a cry of the lost. There is also the cry of warning. A driver sees an accident on the other side of the road. The accident obstructs the lanes and is not visible to the oncoming traffic because of a curve in the road or because of an intervening hilltop. A cry of warning goes out over the CB radio: "Back 'er down, northbound, you have an accident ahead." Or, there may be a highway patrolman writing a ticket on the shoulder up ahead. No one wants to run over the highway patrolman. One hopes to hear the warning cry over the radio in time to move over to a safe lane.

If the warning is heard and heeded, danger, potential catastrophic loss of life or property, is avoided. Not all will hear the warning. Some won't have a working radio. But we would call any man who hears the warning and chooses to disregard it a fool. A wise man pays attention to the warning.

The Bible is full of warnings. Even the gentle, loving Jesus gave some very harsh warnings. We would say these warnings are not "politically correct".

Here is one such warning:

And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea.
And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:
Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.

Pretty harsh, isn't it?

Here is another warning:

And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

Pretty scary, but the warning is well worth heeding. After all, none of us want to play the fool.


Darkness

The Bible often uses the contrasts of light and darkness. The Psalmist writes: hy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. In Bible times, there were no flashlights, headlights or streetlights. Southern Palestine, where the Psalmist raised sheep, was rocky and hilly terrain. A fall into a ravine, in a land where there were no emergency rooms and no ambulances, no modern medicine whatsoever, could mean death or permanent disability. Light was very, very important

Truck drivers know all about darkness. Many pickups and deliveries are required to be made after dark. In the dark, it is far more difficult to find the customer or find the safe truck route. In the dark, it is easier to miss the post or barrier which can tear up the trailer. At the truckstop, bad things can happen in the dark. Drivers often seek a well lit portion of the parking lot in which to park. There is less risk of a dangerous condition of the pavement. There is less risk of being hit over the head and robbed.

In the New Testament, the apostle John uses the picture of "light" and "darkness". He writes much of light and darkness in chapter one. In chapter three he writes:

And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

Imagine that. Men loving the condition of danger because their deeds are evil! Men are indeed depraved! Yet there is One who can deliver us from this condition.