Josh McDowell's Youth DevotionsSample

OUR HELP AND OUR SHIELD. A young girl was baking cookies for her mom and suffered severe burns on her hands because she touched the cookie sheet with her bare hands. She forgot to use the oven mitt that lay on the counter by the stove. A woman lost her sight in one eye after being hit by a rubber ball during an intense game of racquetball. The protective goggles that would have saved her eyesight had been left lying in the bottom of her gym bag. A police officer was killed in a shoot-out with drug dealers. His chest wound probably would not have been fatal if he had been wearing a bulletproof vest. He had been issued a vest by the police department but had never taken it out of his locker at the police station. All of these tragedies could have been avoided. All of these people had some thing an oven mitt, protective goggles, a bulletproof vest that could have protected them from harm. So why were they hurt, even killed? Because they didn't use the protection they possessed. God is our help and our shield. He has given us commands that are meant to protect us. Moses made it clear that "the Lord's commands and laws" were given "for your own good" (Deuteronomy 10:13). He intends for his commands to be like protective goggles or an oven mitt; they're supposed to protect us but we have to use them. God cannot be our help and our shield if we don't obey him. His commands can't protect us and enrich our life if we don't follow them. If we ignore or disobey God's loving commands, they're just like a bulletproof vest that's left hanging in a policeman's locker or safety goggles that are left in the bottom of a gym bag. But if we obey God and do what he commands, he will protect us and save us from many troubles. REFLECT: God's Word says many times that his commands are meant to protect us from danger and harm. Take time to read Deuteronomy 6:24, Jeremiah 32:39, and James 1:25. Do you keep God and his commandments "in a locker" or locked away somewhere? Do you treat his commands as if they're not important? Or do you obey him and follow his commandments every day? ACT: Next time you see an oven mitt on the kitchen counter or a pair of safety goggles in a science lab, remember that God's commandments are meant to protect us from harm. PRAY: "Thank you, Lord, for being my help and my shield."