[CS-FSLUG] The Chief and the Thief
Fred A. Miller
fmiller at lightlink.com
Mon Jan 17 00:12:18 CST 2005
A WORD WITH YOU
By Ron Hutchcraft
#4701 - "The Chief and the Thief"
Isaiah 53:5-6
Listen to the audio broadcast!
http://www.gospelcom.net/cgi-bin/ramhurl?p=pnm&f=/rhm/sounds/awwy/awwy4701.rm
It was centuries ago, when all of North America belonged to its Native
people. One nomadic Indian tribe in the Great Plains was blessed with a chief
that was beloved and respected by everyone who knew him. He was known as a
man who deeply loved his people, and he showed it - and a man of absolute
justice and fairness and he showed that. One day some braves brought a very
troubling report to him; there had been several mysterious thefts from people
in the tribe. The chief wanted to nip this kind of stealing in the bud so he
announced a severe penalty for the thief. He would be tied to a post when the
sun was high, his back laid bare, and he would be beaten with a whip twenty
times. Then the chief set a trap. He asked two of his trusted braves to leave
some animal pelts in front of a teepee one night and to watch all night from
another tepee. It was the middle of the night when one of those braves
awakened the chief with the news, "We've caught the thief." "Then bring him
in," the chief ordered sternly.
You could see the reluctance and even the pain on the braves' faces as
they brought the thief into the chief's tent that night. The chief was
stunned to see who they had caught. It was his own mother. The next day, when
the sun was high, everyone in the tribe gathered around the pole in the
center of the village. There was heated discussion about what the chief would
do. Would he sacrifice his love for his mother for the sake of justice and
fairness? Or would he sacrifice his justice for his love?
Now it was time. Very sadly, two braves marched the chief's mother to
the whipping post and they tied her there as two women bared her back for the
whip. "The chief is putting his justice above his love," the people whispered
as the warrior with the whip raised his right arm to administer the first
lash. Suddenly, the chief emerged from his tepee and he shouted, "Stop! Let
her go!" As the people turned to look at their chief walking toward the
whipping post, they began to say, "His love is greater than his justice. He's
letting her go unpunished for what she did." The chief untied the thief he
loved, and then to the shock of everyone, as he removed his buckskin shirt,
he said, "Tie me." Hesitantly, the braves tied their chief to the post. Then
he barked out his final command, "Begin the whipping." There, before all his
people, their honored chief took the full and painful punishment for the
crimes of the one he loved.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The
Chief and the Thief."
That story is my story, and that story is your story. The chief is no
one less than the Prince of Heaven, the Son of Almighty God. The one who has
broken the law and deserves the punishment is me - and you. God's justice
could not be compromised; all our sinning against Him, all our defiant
choices that have ignored what He wanted had to be paid for. And the penalty
established long ago is death. Because of His justice, your sin had to be
punished.
Because of His love, He didn't want you to have to pay it. So He
stepped into your place and, on a blood-stained cross, took all the hell for
all your sin.
Isaiah 53:5-6, our word for today from the Word of God, "He was
pierced for our transgressions ... the punishment that brought us peace was
upon Him ... we all, like sheep, have gone astray ... and the Lord has laid
on Him the iniquity of us all." Today, Jesus is coming to you where you are,
offering to give you the pardon He secured for you with His blood. But you
have to take it or you will face the punishment He died to save you from.
Please, don't wait another day to make things right with God. Tell Him,
"Lord, because you died and rose again for me, I'm putting all my trust in
you." That's how you trade death for life. The booklet I wrote about this
commitment is called Yours For Life, and I want to send it to you if you'll
just let me know you want it.
Don't walk away from the One who took your place and took your
punishment. He's your only hope and He loves you. He really loves you.
If you're not sure you belong to Jesus, and you would like to make sure today,
Ron would like to send to you a free copy of the booklet, "Yours for Life:
How to Have Life's Most Important Relationship." To read it online, click
here:
http://www.yoursforlife.net/
OR, to request your free copy of "Yours for Life," click here:
http://www.gospelcom.net/rhm/yours/yflorder.html
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Or, call 1-888-NEED HIM.
"A Word With You" by Ron Hutchcraft is a daily radio challenge, with
slice-of-life illustrations and insights - providing practical help on the
issues that matter most. If your local Christian radio station does not air
"A Word With You," please let them know how much you value this program. Over
six years of transcripts are available online, at
http://www.gospelcom.net/rhm/awwy/
Ron Hutchcraft Ministries is a member of the Gospel Communications Network -
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"A Word With You" is a production of:
Ron Hutchcraft Ministries, Inc.
http://www.gospelcom.net/rhm/
Email: RHM at hutchcraft.com
Phone: 1-877-741-1200
Copyright (c) 2005, Ron Hutchcraft. Permission to distribute this material via
email, or individual copies, is automatically granted on the condition it
will be used for non-commercial purposes, and will not be sold. To reproduce
"A Word With You" transcripts in any other format, including Internet
websites, written permission is needed from Ron Hutchcraft.
Copyright (c) 2005, Ron Hutchcraft. Reprinted with permission. "A Word With
You" is a radio outreach of Ron Hutchcraft Ministries, Inc.
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