Draw Near – 365 Guides to Greater Intimacy with GodSample

PAST FEELING In 1906, a beautiful baby boy was born into a German home. As a child he was sensitive to the things of the Lord, but as a young adult he became very bitter. At twenty-six, he joined the Nazi party and became known as the butcher of Germany. Adolf Eichmann murdered six million Jews and bragged, "I will leap into my grave laughing." When he was captured and tried, he had not changed. He was executed and died as he lived--a bitter and evil man--sneering, "Regrets are for small children." Here is a vivid example of a man "past feeling." God's Word warns that this can happen, and when it does, hell spills over on our world. The Hitlers and Stalins were once children with tender feelings, but something happened along the way to drain them of all consciousness of God and compassion for man. Little by little, they stopped caring until they were "beyond feeling." Because it is urgent that men sustain compassion and love for God, preachers plow the fallow ground of people's hearts. This is why ministers urge people to give and be compassionate. The only antidote to men like Eichmann is men of love. We should examine ourselves to see if we are still moved by the hurts of humanity. Dr. Pierce often says, "Break my heart with the things that break the heart of God." This prayer reminds us that believers are to be caring people. Those who have shut off the flow of compassion will die in bitterness; those who love God and men will live forever. The Bible says: They that sow in tears shall reap in joy (Psalm 126:5).