Most of us have read about the infamous John Wilkes Booth who assassinated President Abraham Lincoln in 1865, but have we ever read about Edwin Booth, John's eldest brother? Edwin Thomas Booth was a well-known American actor who one day was waiting at a Jersey City train station. All of a sudden, he saw a man slip and fall off the platform.
Edwin quickly grabbed the man's collar and pulled him to safety — rescuing him from possible serious injury or death. Who was the man he saved, you ask? It was Abraham Lincoln's son, Robert Todd Lincoln, a soldier in the Civil War. Isn't it ironic that the man who saved Lincoln's son had a brother who would soon kill the President? One brother saved a life; the other brother took a life. One brother chose life, the other brother chose death.
In the Old Testament, the Lord gave His people a choice between life and death (Deuteronomy 30:15-20). They could love Him and obey His commandments, or they could worship and serve other gods.
He told them: "I have set before you life and death, blessing an cursing, therefore choose life....." (Deuteronomy 30:19). Today, we too have been given a choice by God between life and death. We can obey the conditions of salvation that Jesus has outlined for us in the New Testament and live with Him forever (1 Thessalonians 4:17; cf. John 17:24), or we can reject the salvation that Jesus offers and live in darkness forever without Him (Matthew 25:30; 2 Thessalonians 1:9).
Dear reader, the choice is ours to make, and the choice is crystal clear — choose eternal life — the life that is found only for those "in Christ Jesus" (Gal. 3:26-28 KJV).
—Mike Riley, Gospel Snippets
Edwin quickly grabbed the man's collar and pulled him to safety — rescuing him from possible serious injury or death. Who was the man he saved, you ask? It was Abraham Lincoln's son, Robert Todd Lincoln, a soldier in the Civil War. Isn't it ironic that the man who saved Lincoln's son had a brother who would soon kill the President? One brother saved a life; the other brother took a life. One brother chose life, the other brother chose death.
In the Old Testament, the Lord gave His people a choice between life and death (Deuteronomy 30:15-20). They could love Him and obey His commandments, or they could worship and serve other gods.
He told them: "I have set before you life and death, blessing an cursing, therefore choose life....." (Deuteronomy 30:19). Today, we too have been given a choice by God between life and death. We can obey the conditions of salvation that Jesus has outlined for us in the New Testament and live with Him forever (1 Thessalonians 4:17; cf. John 17:24), or we can reject the salvation that Jesus offers and live in darkness forever without Him (Matthew 25:30; 2 Thessalonians 1:9).
Dear reader, the choice is ours to make, and the choice is crystal clear — choose eternal life — the life that is found only for those "in Christ Jesus" (Gal. 3:26-28 KJV).
—Mike Riley, Gospel Snippets
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