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A Thousandth of an Inch
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Moore's
Chapel Home Missions & Evangelism Devotions
Beautiful Children's
Devotions - Teen
Devotions -
The
Walk To The Cross
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Deviating From God's Plan For Us"Be very strong; be careful to obey all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, without turning aside to the right or to the left" (Joshua 23:6 NIV). The Hubble telescope, NASA's multi-billion-dollar "eye in the sky," was near-sighted. Scientists had hoped the orbiting observer would photograph distant galaxies never before seen by the human eye. But a mirror, ground incorrectly by a few thousandths of an inch, kept the ground crew from seeing clearly. Eventually, a multi-million dollar space shuttle flight was able to replace the mirror and bring sight to the visually impaired telescope. Just a few thousandths of an inch of imprecision had made the bus-sized telescope absolutely useless. In the same way, just a thousandth of a degree deviation from God's plan can make us equally useless to His Kingdom. Remember parallel lines from high school geometry? A thousandth of an inch difference in the distance between two nearby lines, when extended far enough, create a huge gap between them. In the same way, the slightest deviation from God's straight and narrow line for a long enough time, will eventually create a destructive distance between what is right and what is wrong in our life. I've seen this happen in the church. "Innocent flirting" leads to spending extra time together over coffee and doughnuts before or after church. Then excuses to get together just as "friends" outside of church. Before either of the participants realize what has happened, a full-fledged affair has burst into flame. Not matter what the ultimate sin, it always begins with a slight -- perhaps even imperceptible --"turning aside to the right or to the left."
© James N. Watkins |
