The Saddest Parade: November 27th Devotional

 

The Saddest Parade

Matthew 27:32

November 27th Devotional

On this day in 1924, Macy’s Celebrated its first-ever Thanksgiving (Christmas) Day parade.  It was the roaring twenties and a time of great prosperity and pleasure.  The Macy’s Day parade is tied for the second oldest Thanksgiving parade in the country (the oldest is in Philadelphia).  The parade started at 9:00 AM and lasted for three hours.  The total length of the parade was only two city blocks but the route was three times (around 6 miles) longer than it is today.  This “Marathon of Mirth” started with a police escort at 145 Street and Convent street.  It had three floats, four bands, and borrowed animals from the Central Park Zoo.  A noticeable absence was the balloons.  Balloons weren’t introduced until 1927, replacing the animals that scared the children.  The parade was staffed by Macy’s employees, family, and friends who volunteered.  Most of the workers today still consist of Macy’s employees (there is an estimated 6500 workers for the parade today).  Around 250,000 spectators eagerly crowded the streets to see the sights and hear the sounds.  The theme of that first year was nursery rhymes.  Little ones got to see their favorite characters like Little Red Riding Hood and Little Miss Muffet dressed in vibrant colors.  The parade route marched toward 34^th Street, which was the location of Macy’s flagship store.  The ecstatic onlookers waited for the crown of the parade at the end.  The end of the parade was Santa, or as he was labeled that first parade, “The King of the Kiddies.”  He sat on a throne announcing that it was officially Christmas time.

      The Macy’s Day parade has only been canceled three times since then (due to WW II).  There was even a version of the parade during Covid.  Today over three million people pack the parade route while nearly 26 million people tune their television screens for this pre-Thanksgiving meal celebration.  The Bible doesn’t record many “parades”, but it does give details in regards to one of the most tragic ones in history.  Nearly two thousand years ago the citizens of Jerusalem gathered around the ancient city streets to see a spectacle.  The crowd would have pressed together in hopes to witness a once and a lifetime event.  The rumors had spread through the city in the early morning hours.  They heard that Pilate washed his hands of the one named Jesus and turned him over to the religious leaders to be crucified.  A wearied and beaten Jesus bore the cross beam toward Golgotha, toward the place of destiny.  The raucous crowd would have flung insult after insult at the innocent Lamb of God.  The soldiers noticed Jesus’ struggle and the Bible says “As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene, named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross (Matthew 27:32).”  We know nothing about this man other than the facts given.  We simply know that he helped Jesus bear His cross.  Jesus was nailed to the cross, He suffered, bled, and died.  He gave us His life so that we would have life.  He was forsaken from His Father so we could be adopted into the family of God.  The moment of celebration didn’t come through during the tragic parade route through old Jerusalem, the celebration came three days later as Christ burst forth from the grave defeating death, sin, and Satan for all who come to believe.  There are many reasons to give thanks during this season, but let us not forget the world's saddest parade that would bring about the happiest of days.

Desserts and Disobedience: November 20th Devotional

Desserts and Disobedience

November 20th Devotional

1st Samuel 15:23

      Almost every one of you have read a Golden Book in your life.  You remember the hardback children’s books with the gold spine.  Most of them were located near the front of grocery stores.  The books are icons in the world of literature.  They are a staple in most of our reading journeys.  Golden books were first introduced in 1942.  The nation was still coming out of the great depression and money was tight for a lot of families.  Books were an unheard-of luxury, especially kids' books.  The average cost of a children’s book at that time was roughly $2-3, which doesn’t sound like much but if we figure in inflation, those books would cost $38-$50 today.  Most of us wouldn’t buy a book that expensive.  A man named George Duplaix wanted to change that.  He worked for Western Publishing.  He felt that children’s books should be colorful, quality, and cheap.  The books originally rolled out with a .25c price tag!  The company decided to publish twelve original titles, some of which included: Three Little Kittens, Mother Goose, Prayers for our Children, The Little Red Hen, and The Animals of Farmer Jones.  The books were a phenomenal hit, selling over 1.5 million copies in one year.  Today there was over 1200 different Golden Book stories, but none quite as popular as the Poky Little Puppy.  The Pokey Little Puppy was part of the original run of twelve.  It was written by Janette Lowrey and illustrated by Gustaf Tenggren.  This book would be the ONE BILLIONTH Golden Book printed on this day in 1986!  Golden books then crossed the two billion threshold in 2002!  The Poky Little Puppy itself has sold over 15 million copies making it the best-selling hardcover children’s book of all time.

      Most of us are familiar with the story of the Poky Little Puppy.  It follows an inquisitive and disobedient little brown and white puppy who is anything but Poky.  The story tells us of a family of puppies who were warned by their mother to not wander or dig holes under fences.  “But, the five little puppies dug a hole under the fence, just the same, and went for a walk in the wide, wide world” and find the terrible punishment of not having dessert!  Each puppy that is but one.  The poky little puppy also disobeys his mother but he isn’t present for his punishment because he was out exploring bugs, grass, and lizards.  He would return when everyone was asleep and would eat the dessert.  This continued a few times until the Poky Little Puppy is caught red-handed and isn’t given any strawberry shortcake.  This cute little story ends with a sign on the fence “Don’t ever dig holes under this fence.”  Puppies are not the only things that are prone to being disobedient, we as humans have a bend toward defiance.  Disobedience against God is us going against His clear will for our life.  It is doing the opposite of what God teaches.  It is a failure and a refusal to bend the knee to God’s authority in our life.  God takes disobedience seriously.  The prophet Samuel comes to a rebellious King Saul with serious words in 1^st Kings 15:23, “For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry.  Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has rejected you as king.”  God considers rebellion against God as equal to witchcraft and idolatry.  If we were to grade the seriousness of sin, we would probably think that those two sins were much worse, but not in God’s eyes.  The sign on the fence gave a warning against digging holes, God’s Word warns us not to disobey.  Disobedience cost the puppies a loss of dessert, disobedience for us costs something far worse, our fellowship with God, our relationships with loved ones, our jobs, our testimony, our integrity, and the list could go on and on.  Nothing good comes from our rebellion against God.  It brings loss, pain, and suffering.  Disobedience is a black hole for everything good in our life.

The Inner Battle: November 13th Devotional

The Inner Battle
November 13th Devotional

James 1:14-15

      On this day in 1850, Robert Lewis Stevenson was born in Edinburgh Scotland.  Robert was an only child who was very ill.  His fragile health even lasted into his adult years.  He often missed multiple months of school.  Because of this, he struggled with reading and the ability to make friends.  He developed a love for writing despite his educational struggles.  Stevenson would go to the University of Edinburgh to study engineering.  Most of his father’s side of the family were lighthouse engineers and designers, but Robert found the classes quite boring and would often skip lectures.  After college Robert became an atheist, which broke his parent’s hearts.  During this time, he started to study law and was officially called to the Scottish bar in 1875, but he never practiced.  The only thing that brought him fulfillment was writing.  He became a household name with the swashbuckling adventure “Treasure Island” but his most famous novel was the “Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.”  The idea of this gothic horror novel came to him in a dream (more of a nightmare).  Robert originally wrote the manuscript to the book in three days but his wife suggested that he make some changes.  Robert, who was bedridden at the time decided to burn all the manuscripts, forcing him to start from nothing.  He labored for six weeks on the book until it was finally sent to the publisher.  The book skyrocketed in popularity and became one of Stevenson’s best-selling books.  He would go on to publish 13 novels, 8 books on travel, countless collections of essays, poems, letters, and he even wrote over 120 musical pieces (some set to his own poems).  Robert would tragically die of a stroke at the age of 44, leaving behind many unfinished pieces of literature.

      Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a tale familiar to most of us.  It follows the story of what seems to be two very different men.  A man named Edward Hyde was a villain and murderer.  The other main character is Doctor Henry Jekyll.  Hyde would often commit violent crimes but Dr. Jekyll would have to bail him out.  These events go on for quite some time in the book.  Dr. Jekyll’s friends were flabbergasted by this.  They thought that Hyde was blackmailing the good doctor.  Finally, Doctor Jekyll’s butler informs his friends that Henry had locked himself inside his lab for weeks.  His friends break into the laboratory only to find Hyde wearing Dr. Jekyll’s clothing.  They find a note that gave a grim tale.  The note detailed how Dr. Jekyll often battled the urge of good versus evil.  He tried to repress these terrible urges.  Thus he created a serum that would change him into Edward Hyde.  His alter ego Hyde would then go on a spree of evil and violence.  Eventually, Hyde started to take over without the serum.  Dr. Jekyll determined there was only one way to be free; by tragically taking his own life.  This fictional horror story has an all too real-life feel though.  The story reminds us of the dangers when we allow sin left unchecked in our life.  When we allow sin to domineer our life we will find that it would devour us.  Our sin nature is a monster with a seemingly insatiable appetite.  The draw of sin can derail a life of faithfulness.  Think of how many people have thrown away their families, careers, ministries, or testimonies because sin had become such a dominant force.  The Bible warns of us this in James 1:14-15, which says “But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.  That when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin: and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.”  Those are some very sobering words.  Each Christian has an inner battle; the old man versus the new man, light versus darkness.  It is quite literally a war, but it is a war we need to be aware of each day.  We cannot afford to allow our sinful nature or our ‘inner Hyde” to control us.  We need to regularly be in God’s Word and prayer.  We cannot allow sin to grow in the darkness of our hearts.  Dr. Jekyll’s battle with Hyde consumed him and destroyed him.  Are you battling against the ‘inner Hyde?’

Marching on the Impossible: November 6th

Marching on the Impossible

November 6th Devotional

Joshua Chapter Six

      On this day in 1854, John Philip Sousa was born in Washington DC.  Sousa was the third of ten children.  Both of his parents were immigrants.  Sousa’s father had a passion for music which he instilled in his son.  John started to study the violin at a young age and enrolled in music theory classes taught by some of the most talented musicians in the D.C. area.  He loved music and excelled at it.  He even attempted to create his own orchestra when he was 11.  Despite his talents, he still wanted to try other pathways.  At one time he aspired to be a baker and at the age of 13, he wanted to run away with the circus.  His father noticed how unsettled young John’s heart was so he signed him up as an apprentice to the Marine Corps Band.  John’s father was a trombonist in the band and the Marine Corps tent was only a short distance from their home.  He served the band for seven years.  After leaving the band he became a violinist and eventually a conductor, but nothing could replace the burning that he had for marching music.  He returned to the Marine Corps band in 1880 as their conductor and would remain in that role until 1892. It was during this time that he wrote the Marine Corps Marching band song called “Semper Fidelis” which is still the Marine Corps song.  He led this particular song for the inauguration of five presidents.  He revolutionized the Marine Corps Band.  He expected nothing short of excellence.  The band started touring and recording music.  After leaving the band he became a band leader in the civilian world.  He did this until he died in 1932.  He conducted nearly 16,000 concerts in his lifetime.  As a matter of fact, he was conducting a practice for “Stars and Stripes Forever” the day before he died.

      Sousa will forever be remembered as the “March King.”  His marches, especially his patriotic ones are still played today (typically on the fourth of July during fireworks).  His baton is still passed down to each new conductor of the Marine Corps Band.  The Bible mentions a march, but one without music.  Joshua, the newly appointed leader of Israel had a daunting task set before him, Jericho.  Those walls had to look intimidating.  This was a large city with a mighty army.  The task was considered impossible.  One might assume that they would lay a siege against the city.  To literally starve the people out.  But God had a different plan for the Israelites.  In Joshua 6:2 God told Joshua “See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men.  March around the city once with all the armed men.  Do this for six days.  Have seven priests carry trumpets of ram’s horns in front of the ark.  On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets.  When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have the whole army give a loud shout, then the wall of the city will collapse and the army will go up, everyone straight in.”  Joshua even told the people, “do not give a war cry, do not raise your voices, do not say a word until the day I tell you to shout…”  Joshua and the army obeyed.  They marched around the city for six days, and finally, on the seventh day the city walls fell down and the army marched right inside.  The walls of Jericho should have been completely impenetrable.  The task should have been impossible.  The mission seemed silly, but Joshua and the Israelites obeyed by faith.  As believers, there are times when Jericho’s walls are still in front of us.  Maybe God is asking you to do something hard, impossible, or maybe something out of your comfort zone.  He isn’t asking you to attack the wall, to dig under the wall, to flee from the impossible, He is asking you to simply obey Him.  He is asking you to trust Him.  What Jericho is in front of you right now?  What seems impossible?  Your marriage?  Your calling?  Your purpose?  Jesus said, “with man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”  March on the impossible.  March in obedience.  March in faith.