Day 2

HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF

"Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt;" Joshua 24:14

One of the saddest statements in Israel's history is in 1 Sam. 8:1-3. It is almost unbelievable that after the experience of his youth and a life of dedicated service to God, Samuel should allow history to be repeated! Samuel's sons were little better than Eli's. No wonder that the elders of Israel were dissatisfied.

Leonard was a good doctor and a popular man. Dedicated to helping people, he worked long, exhausting hours dealing with mental and emotional as well as physical needs. As time went on his children began to complain about his neglect of them and his wife became disillusioned with married life. Worn down with coping at home and at work, Leonard started to have an occasional alcoholic drink; just when he needed to keep going or blot out all the demands for a while. Things got worse and Leonard's life could have been ruined. But one day a patient who was also an old friend came to his surgery. She guessed from the smell what was going on and said to him, "Leonard, remember when you used to escape to our house for company while your father had one of his bad bouts? Stop and think before history repeats itself!" Leonard did and saved his family and his patients from terrible distress.

Why are we always tempted to think "it will never happen to me" in life?

Do you learn from your past mistakes and those of others, or do you expect things to be different next time?

How much influence do you think parents have over the kind of people their children become?

Lord, help me to remember the needs of my friends and family and never to take them for granted.