DON’T HARM: Goodbook 05-10-12

Goodbook messages arrive every Monday, Thursday, and Friday with a Scripture reading and ideas for how to apply the reading in our lives. We are reading through the book of Acts. For additional Scripture reading, you can follow the Advanced Track.

Reading: Acts 16:27-28
(Advanced Track: Proverbs 22-24)

²⁷ The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. ²⁸ But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!”

Application:

Don’t harm yourself!  What a powerful statement.  It sounds so simple, so common sense.  But we often make choices throughout our day that cause harm to ourselves and to others.

The poor jailer in the story was about to take his own life.  If the prisoners had escaped, his punishment would have been death.  His punishers would likely make his death torture.  The jailer thought the only option he had was to take his own life.

Sadly, there are many people today who think their situation is so bleak, so hopeless, that they take their own life.  As I write there are teens in our congregation dealing with a tragic suicide in their school.  If anyone reading this is tempted to take their own life, hear Paul’s words: “Don’t harm yourself!”

No matter how hopeless a situation may seem, there is always hope with God.  Think of what happened with Paul and Silas.  They had been locked in the inner cell of a prison.  It doesn’t get much more bleak and hopeless than that.  Yet God was able to deliver them, and God can deliver us when we place our trust in him.  That day God used the prisoners to bring hope and new life to their jailer.  There are people around us – in our church, in this Goodbook group – who are here for you.  God uses people to bring hope and new life to us.  Don’t harm yourself.  Trust in God and lean on God’s people.  If you are really struggling with thoughts of suicide, dial this number immediately 1-888-284-2433 (1-888-SUICIDE).

Suicide isn’t the only way we do harm to ourselves.  We sometimes make choices about food and exercise that do harm.  We sometimes make choices about what we purchase that do harm.  We sometimes make choices about what we say and how we treat others that do harm.  We sometimes make choices about the websites we visit that do harm.  We sometimes make choices about how we spend our time and who we spend our time with that do harm.  We sometimes make choices about things we put in our bodies or things we do to our bodies that do harm.

God doesn’t give us guidelines to prevent us from having fun.  God gives us guidelines to prevent us from doing harm to ourselves and to others.  And God also gives us power and people to help us.  So let’s think carefully about the choices we make today.  Live by this motto:

1) Don’t harm yourself!

Share your thoughts, questions, and ideas about how to apply this…