May 31
Lessons from Anne
… all have sinned, all fall short …
Romans 3:23 (NLT)
The human heart is most desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is? But I know!
Jeremiah 17:9-10a (NLT)
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.
Isaiah 55:8 (NKJV)
I recently traveled to Ashland, Oregon to view the gripping play, The Diary of Anne Frank. Wendy Kesselman’s adaptation of Goodrich and Hackett’s earlier play is truly touching. Those familiar with the play know Anne, a Jewish teen, has hidden with her family and others in a storeroom above her father’s business—and they do so for over a year. She has a diary she keeps, and she records the intimate details of their long hibernation together. In spite of the Nazi’s determination to eliminate every Jew they could lay their hands on—and they managed to kill six million of them—Anne writes near the end of her journal that she still believes in the ultimate goodness of man. In a matter of days they are captured, and in spite of the rapid Ally advance across Europe, all would die in Nazi prisons except for Anne’s father, Otto.
I hate to disagree with a fifteen-year old victim of such cruel hatred, but I guess that’s the point. Men or women in their natural fallen state … are not good. Only God is good. At least, that's what Jesus taught. When the Rich Young Ruler approached Jesus and called him Good Teacher, Jesus replied, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God” (Matthew 19:17).
If we are good, it is only because God is good and through the saving grace of Jesus Christ, God indwells those who believe—who trust in His Son.
The play serves a great purpose: it reminds us all: we live in a dark world. What we Christians forget is, we hold the torches! This means we have a great responsibility, and our lives of goodness and grace serve to show the way.
Anne Frank reminds us of something else as well: many have died because of who they were. But how many of us live, truly live, because of who we are?
Lord, the world would snuff out these lights. Keep them lit and help us shine for Your glory! Amen.
Lessons from Anne
… all have sinned, all fall short …
Romans 3:23 (NLT)
The human heart is most desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is? But I know!
Jeremiah 17:9-10a (NLT)
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.
Isaiah 55:8 (NKJV)
I recently traveled to Ashland, Oregon to view the gripping play, The Diary of Anne Frank. Wendy Kesselman’s adaptation of Goodrich and Hackett’s earlier play is truly touching. Those familiar with the play know Anne, a Jewish teen, has hidden with her family and others in a storeroom above her father’s business—and they do so for over a year. She has a diary she keeps, and she records the intimate details of their long hibernation together. In spite of the Nazi’s determination to eliminate every Jew they could lay their hands on—and they managed to kill six million of them—Anne writes near the end of her journal that she still believes in the ultimate goodness of man. In a matter of days they are captured, and in spite of the rapid Ally advance across Europe, all would die in Nazi prisons except for Anne’s father, Otto.
I hate to disagree with a fifteen-year old victim of such cruel hatred, but I guess that’s the point. Men or women in their natural fallen state … are not good. Only God is good. At least, that's what Jesus taught. When the Rich Young Ruler approached Jesus and called him Good Teacher, Jesus replied, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God” (Matthew 19:17).
If we are good, it is only because God is good and through the saving grace of Jesus Christ, God indwells those who believe—who trust in His Son.
The play serves a great purpose: it reminds us all: we live in a dark world. What we Christians forget is, we hold the torches! This means we have a great responsibility, and our lives of goodness and grace serve to show the way.
Anne Frank reminds us of something else as well: many have died because of who they were. But how many of us live, truly live, because of who we are?
Lord, the world would snuff out these lights. Keep them lit and help us shine for Your glory! Amen.
posted by Craig Soderquist at 10:16 PM
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