Insight for Today
A Daily Devotional by Pastor Chuck Swindoll

A time-honored, effective method of evangelism is your personal testimony. Just telling about your spiritual pilgrimage. The skeptic may deny your doctrine . . . but he cannot honestly ignore the fact that your life has been cleaned up.

One of George Bernard Shaw's statements frequently flashes through my mind: "Liberty means responsibility. That is why most men dread it." In a day when most people pass the buck with merely a shrug, those words bite and sting.

Ah, those predicaments . . . life is full of them. Often they are of our own making. Other times they just seem to happen mysteriously to us. Occasionally, predicaments are comical or borderline crazy.

We don't hear much about gumption anymore. Too bad, since we need it more than ever these days. I was raised on gumption (my parents also called it "spizzerinctum")—as were my own children.

Jesus tells us to stop praying for forgiveness until we've made things right with people we need to forgive or ask forgiveness from. I believe most of us try to do that.

This thing called life is an awfully long journey. For some, it seems an endless trip, filled with thankless responsibilities and relentless tasks, disappointments and deadlines, and daily demands. Being imperfect doesn't help.

Be honest now, can you keep a secret? When privileged information passes through one of the gates of your senses, does it remain within the walls of your mind, or is it only a matter of time before a leak occurs?

When it comes to mistakes, we need a great deal of tolerance. And a sense of humor doesn't hurt, either. I ran across an embarrassing mistake recently in the sports section of the newspaper.

Leading can be awfully lonely and terribly frustrating. I haven't always believed that. Fact is, when I was a starry-eyed seminary student back around '59 and '60, I had this crazy idea that a leader lived a charmed life.

Try to make time this weekend to read the entire book of Job, for only then do you really see the true extent of Job's honest dealings with God and his steadfast faith in the face of adversity.

Step into the time tunnel with me, and let's travel together back to Uz (not the wizard of, but the land of). Wherever it was, Uz had a citizen who was respected by everyone. Why? Because he was blameless, upright, God-fearing.

Shortly after World War II, the saddest sight for American soldiers who were picking up the pieces in ravaged Europe, was that of little orphaned children starving in the streets of those war-torn cities.

There we sat, a cluster of six. A stubby orange candle burned at the center of our table flickering eerie shadows across our faces. One spoke; five listened. Every question was handled with such grace, such effortless ease.

Well, we are [five] months into the year. Throughout the past months we've reaffirmed the significance of pacing ourselves and not allowing the tyranny of the urgent to blind us to the value of the important.

A young fella rushed into a service station and asked the manager if he had a pay phone. The manager nodded, "Sure, over there." The boy pushed in some change, dialed, and waited for an answer. Finally, someone came on the line.

How do you feel about intrusions? Like an early-morning knock at your door? Like a talkative passenger next to you on a packed-out flight? Like an injury or illness that strikes at the wrong time? Like the piercing ring of the telephone?

I watched a young mother in a waiting room just last week. She was pregnant and had a toddler, plus one in diapers in her arms. Was she busy! Yet with incredible patience, that mother hung in there.

Can you recall Jesus' radical philosophy: "Be a servant, give to others"? The basis of that statement is tucked away in Luke 9:23. Following Christ is a costly, unselfish decision.

Micah isn't exactly a household word. Too bad. Though obscure, the ancient prophet had his stuff together. Eclipsed by the much more famous Isaiah, who ministered among the elite, Micah took God's message to the streets.

All of us are surrounded by and benefit from the results of someone's quest. Let me name a few. Above my head is a bright electric light. Thanks, Tom. On my nose are eyeglasses that enable me to focus. Thanks, Ben.