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The Revelation of Jesus Christ
Weekly Devotional for 2007

            How does God feel about the destruction of the wicked? Is it “good riddance” along with a sigh of relief? Or is this the most difficult moment in the history of the universe? The following story gives me a sense of the answer.
            Shirley was a high school guidance counselor when the phone rang one day. A student was on the line. “Jen says to tell you maybe you should check on Todd. He may need you pretty badly. She broke up with him at noon.”
            Todd was Shirley’s son. She hurried home to find an empty medicine bottle on the kitchen counter and a message on her son’s computer: “It’s hard to know what to say when you face death, but I thought I must say something. . . Suicide is not the answer, but maybe it is a better way than life. . . I want everyone concerned to know I love them–especially Jen–I love you so much that love has taken over my intelligence.” Todd was all of sixteen years old at the time.
            Life had always mattered to Todd before this. As a student he was at the top of his class. At a convalescent center he had always been a responsible worker. Shirley slammed her fist down on the taunting computer. That morning a happy 16-year-old had left the home with a rose and a poem he had written for his girlfriend. He had never threatened suicide or been unduly depressed. He fit in with the crowd, didn’t drink or take drugs, none of the classic symptoms. Shirley had counseled others, she had been given no chance to counsel her own son.
            Her husband had rushed Todd to the emergency room. His stomach was pumped and he was put on an IV drip. Thanks to rapid intervention Todd was given another chance at life. Some time later he and his mother finally had a quiet chance to talk. The words gushed out in gulping sobs: “Mom, I didn’t mean to hurt you! I didn’t mean to hurt Jen! Why can’t she love me? I begged her not to leave. . .”
            “Cry, honey, just cry,” said his mom.
            “Mom, have you ever knelt and begged someone to stay, and they just turned and walked out?”
            “No, son, I haven’t.”
            Todd whispered softly, “God has, every time one of us walks away from Him.”[1]

Lord, I sense a bit of the aching pain You feel every time I walk away from You, even if just for a moment. I know that an even greater pain is coming on that day when sin and sinners are eradicated from the universe. You have always been there when I needed You. I want to be there for You on that day.