Swine flu ... this colorised image from a transmission electron micrograph (TEM) depicts the A H1N1 virus from a previous outbreak in 1976. Photo:US Centre for Disease Control
http://www.smh.com.au/world/science/crisis-meeting-over-swine-flu-outbreak-20090427-ak3p.html
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,25388334-661,00.html
A seminar leader wanted to make an important point, so he took a wide-mouth jar and filled it with rocks. “Is the jar full?” he asked. “Yes,” came a reply. “Oh, really?” he said. Then he poured smaller pebbles into the jar to fill the spaces between the rocks. “Is it full now?” “Yes,” said someone else. “Oh, really?” He then filled the remaining spaces between the rocks and stones with sand. “Is it full now?” he asked. “Probably not,” said another, to the amusement of the audience. Then he took a pitcher of water and poured it into the jar.
“What’s the lesson we learn from this?” he asked. An eager participant spoke up, “No matter how full the jar is, there’s always room for more.” “Not quite,” said the leader. “The lesson is: to get everything in the jar, you must always put the big things in first.”
Jesus proclaimed a similar principle in the Sermon on the Mount. He knew that we waste our time worrying about the little things that seem so urgent but crowd out the big things of eternal value. “Your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things,” Jesus reminded His hearers. “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (Matt. 6:32-33).
What are you putting first in your life? — Dennis J. De Haan
Make It Practical
• Always pray before planning.
• Always love people more than things.
• Do all things to please God.
Those who lay up treasures in heaven are the richest people on earth.
http://www.rbc.org/devotionals/our-daily-bread/2009/04/27/devotion.aspx
Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC)
Anzac Day is a national public holiday in Australia and New Zealand, and is commemorated by both countries on 25 April every year to honour members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) who fought at Gallipoli in Turkey during World War I and also to commemorate the soldiers who fought in France and Belgium. Anzac Day is also observed in the Cook Islands, Niue, Samoa and Tonga. It is the day we remember all Australians who served and died in all wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping operations. The spirit of ANZAC, with its human qualities of courage, mateship, and sacrifice, continues to have meaning and relevance for our sense of national identity. On ANZAC day, ceremonies are held in towns and cities across the nation to acknowledge the service of our veterans.
Against the Wall
On April 25, 1915, soldiers of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps landed on the Gallipoli peninsula expecting a quick victory. But fierce resistance by the Turkish defenders resulted in an 8-month stalemate during which thousands on both sides were wounded or killed.
Many of the ANZAC troops who were evacuated to Egypt visited the YMCA camp outside Cairo where chaplain Oswald Chambers offered hospitality and hope to these men so broken and disillusioned by war. With great insight and compassion, Chambers told them, “No man is the same after an agony; he is either better or worse, and the agony of a man’s experience is nearly always the first thing that opens his mind to understand the need of redemption worked out by Jesus Christ. At the back of the wall of the world stands God with His arms outstretched, and every man driven there is driven into the arms of God. The cross of Jesus is the supreme evidence of the love of God.”
Paul asked: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” (Rom. 8:35). His confident answer was that nothing can remove us from God’s love in Christ (vv.38-39).
When we’re up against the wall, God is there with open arms. — David C. McCasland
God knows each winding way I take
And every sorrow, pain, and ache;
His children He will not forsake—
He knows and loves His own. —Bosch
