Dear Lord Jesus, You gave Your life to forgive my sins and save my soul. Make my heart one of thanksgiving and grant a powerful witness be made to those who cannot see the greatness of Your sacrifice. This I ask in Your Name. Amen.

"Don't Want To Offend You, But ..." April 17, 2012 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions. 2 Timothy 4:3 The story for today's Daily Devotion was suggested by old friend and Lutheran Hour Ministries' supporter, Mr. Ian Adnams, of Adnams Group, a Canadian consulting firm. Years ago, a Minnesota highway patrolman told me about a motorist whose car was stopped along the side of the road. Although not a mechanic, the officer gave the vehicle a once-over. Sitting behind the wheel, he turned the key and saw the gas gauge was solidly buried in EMPTY. When he shared the problem with the motorist, the fellow furrowed his brow and asked, "Tell me, will it hurt the car if I drive it home this way?" The officer, who swears the story is true, was amazed the individual didn't understand how important it was for his vehicle to have some gas in the tank. When it comes to going somewhere, having gas in the tank is not of moderate importance. The same is true when it comes to saving faith. You've got to have something -- the right something in the tank -- or you're not going anywhere, at least not anywhere you want to go. You probably knew that, didn't you? Of course, you did. Still, I had to ask. I had to ask because a nationwide survey in Canada has discovered the majority of Canadians do not consider religion to be important. According to the survey of that great nation, two-thirds of the population believe in God; they just don't believe religion is important. This takes me back to the devo's original story; you remember, the one about the guy who ran out of gas. That motorist could believe whatever he wanted about gasoline. He could believe it was unimportant. He could believe it was too expensive. He could believe you could put water in the tank rather than gas. You can believe whatever you want, but unless you believe the right thing, unless you have gas in the tank, you're not going anywhere. No matter how sincere your beliefs might be. Similarly, human beings can believe what they want about sin, salvation and Jesus. You can believe the Christ was a great teacher, a fine moralist, a brilliant philosopher, a speaker of wisdom and profound thoughts. But if Jesus, the Savior isn't in your heart, if He's not more than moderately important to you, well, you're not going anywhere, at least not anywhere you want to go.