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OUR DAILY BREAD             Thurs., July 27, 1995    
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READ: Isaiah 1:1-9 
 
                
 
               THE TEACHER IS AN ANIMAL 
 
       "The ox knows its owner...; but Israel  
      does not know, My people do not consider." 
 
                      -- Isaiah 1:3 
 
Animals sometimes seem to have more sense than people. 
Because of their alertness to natural phenomena, they 
have at times helped us to avoid disaster. 
 
In northeastern China, officials were able to warn and 
evacuate people from high-risk areas hours before a 
killer earthquake struck.  They were alerted to the  
disaster by cattle that mooed more than usual and 
chickens that refused to roost.  And in Japan, 20 
small quakes within a few months were accurately 
forecast because observers noted that catfish swam 
frantically, as if chased by sharks. 
 
>From the prophet Isaiah we learn that observing 
animals can even teach us how to prevent a ruined 
life (1:2-9).  He noted that an ox knows its owner, 
and a donkey knows where its food comes from (v. 3). 
These animals know who takes care of them. 
 
God's people, however, often aren't smart enough 
to remember their Owner.  Hundreds of years after 
Isaiah, the apostle Paul reminded the Corinthian 
Christians that they were not their own.  They 
had been bought with a price and were to honor God 
in all they said and did (1 Cor. 6:19-20). 
 
Take a lesson from the animals and remember your 
Owner and Provider.  Live wholeheartedly for Him. 
 
                        -- Martin R. De Haan II 
 
    I am Yours, Lord, yet teach me all it means, 
        All it involves of love and loyalty, 
         Holy service, absolute surrender 
         And unreserved obedience to Thee. 
 
                                -- Anon. 
 
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           THOUGHT FOR THE DAY  
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        Live so that others know 
           whom you belong to. 
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THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:  Isaiah 1-3

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