Daily Encounter: A Week-day Devotional by a staff of ACTS International.

Monday, July 16, 2018

"There is no greater love than to lay down one's life for one's friends."¹

A while back I saw a headline in NYDailyNews.com that read, "Australian flood hero: Teen boy [Jordan] sacrifices life so that his younger brother could be rescued." In the following article, Staff Writer, Sean Alfano, reports:

A teenage boy heroically sacrificed his life so that his younger brother could survive after floodwaters ravaged their Australian hometown. Jordan Rice, 13, alerted a truck driver to his mother, Donna, and 10-year-old brother, Blake, who were clinging to a tree in Toowoomba, where a 26-foot torrent of water blasted through the city, killing nearly 10 people on Monday.

The driver [Warren McErlean] tried to help Jordan, who couldn't swim, first, but the teen told the man to rescue Blake instead.

Kyle Rice, the boys' 16-year-old brother, who was not with the family at the time, said Jordan would do anything for his family. "Courage kicked in and he would rather his little brother live," he said.

McErlean was able to rescue Blake, but when he went back to get the mother and older son, both had been swept to their deaths by the current."²

We can't help but greatly appreciate what Jordan did in order to save his brother. And what a graphic reminder this is of God's great love for you and me when he gave his Son, Jesus, to die in our place on the cruel Roman cross to pay the penalty for all of your sins and mine.

As God's Word, the Bible, says, "Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."³

Dear Reader, if you have never confessed your sinfulness to God and accepted his forgiveness and eternal life, I urge you to do this today while you have the opportunity.

Suggested prayer: "Dear God, how can I ever thank you enough for giving your Son, Jesus, to die in my place to save me from the penalty of all my sins? And Lord Jesus because of your great love in giving your life to save me, please help me to always live for you and help bring others to you for your forgiveness and gift of eternal life. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus' name, amen."

1. John 15:13 (NLT).
2. Source: http://tinyurl.com/6c499l3
3. Romans 5:7-8 (NIV).

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