4 Show me the right path, O Lord;
….point out the road for me to follow.
5 Lead me by your truth and teach me,
….for you are the God who saves me.
….All day long I put my hope in you. Psalm 25:4-5 NLT

Luke 12:13-21 (<<click here to read the passage)

Something new that I tried on our time away was that I checked out an eBook from my library. I think I would still like to purchase a hard copy in that I enjoyed it so much but reading on our tablet was different and I enjoyed doing that, too.

The book I chose was The Noticer by Andy Andrews. He is a New York Times best-selling author and in-demand speaker. I had not heard of him until I saw a post on a Christian group’s Facebook page referring me to a YouTube show he hosts called Andy Andrews Blue Plate Special (it’s great, too!) On the show I watched, he read from his third book of The Noticer series…and I was hooked!

So back to the topic at hand… As I read through today’s passage once more an illustration Andy had used in his book came to mind. It’s too long to share here but I can summarize the story with it’s impacting “moral” and would encourage you to check out the book, it’s short and well worth your time.

He spoke of Napoleon’s victory at Waterloo. Of course, we know Napoleon lost at Waterloo, horribly so. But first, he won. Andy does a great job of telling the story but what lead to Napoleon’s ultimate defeat was that his victorious troops had forgotten, of all things, nails – headless nails.

At the time, both the French and the English artillery utilized muzzle-loading cannons. They were made of bronze…and were fired by setting a…small flame to a narrow firing touchhole that was drilled through the solid bronze. Traditionally, when troops would overrun an opponent’s cannon, headless nails were hammered down into the touchhole, rendering the cannon useless…

…Nails! Just a few nails, and the British cannons would have been out of action. It was the smallest of elements in a massive clash of men and steel, but had that one detail not been overlooked, history books would now contain the record of a French victory…and of Wellington’s Waterloo. – Andy Andrews (The Noticer, pg.328-330)

The rich man in today’s passage made grandiose plans for his future. That was all well and good but unbeknownst to him his days were numbered…and his number was up. He invested greatly in this world, but we are given the distinct impression that his investments in the world to come were severely lacking.

So, what about us? Are we so caught up in life on this dusty globe that we forget the “nails”? In reference to yesterday’s post, are we so gung-ho to “dream big” that the benefits of allowing ourselves to “dream small” elude us? Life is not all about the four-score and ten that we may have here, but life is all about what we do in our lives here that prepares us for the life to come.

Lord Jesus, help us to not just focus on the heres and nows but help us to see beyond today. Help us to be wise with our resources today, both for our future life here but may we not neglect the investments we make that will carry over into eternity. Amen.

Aug 6th, 2020, Thurs, 8:17 pm