May 7, 2013 (Tuesday)
“Choose you this day whom you will serve” (Joshua 24:15).
On this day (May 7) in 1915, the British ocean liner, Lusitania, was sunk by a German torpedo off the coast of Ireland. There was great loss of life, including Americans. This event alerted Americans to possible involvement in the war, but did not result in immediate entry. Our isolationism at the time was strong. We remained emphatically neutral. Two years later, British intelligence discovered that Germany was attempting to enlist Mexico to join them in a war against the United States. This led to a declaration of war by the United States.
The war ended in 1918 with an Armistice that could not prevent the rise of Germany as a military power with the aim of conquering the world in a second world war 20 years later.
America attempted to remain neutral before both world wars. Before entering World War I, President Woodrow Wilson said, “Neutrality is no longer feasible or desirable.” As soon as Hitler invaded Poland, President Franklin D. Roosevelt called on Congress to revise U.S. neutrality laws. Two years later, Pearl Harbor was attacked and we found ourselves involved again. We had tried to remain neutral, but found neutrality to be impossible.
Devotional Thought:
Jesus, speaking to the issue of spiritual neutrality, made clear his insistence that we must choose between serving the world or serving Him. Neutrality is impossible. “Not to decide is to decide.” * To declare oneself neutral in matters of faith is to choose a course not allowed by the Lord. We are either for or against faith in Christ as Savior and Lord. If we cannot take a stand for Christ, we have cast our lot with those who oppose him. We either believe or we don’t. A local politician was asked where he stood on a controversial issue, and he replied, “Some of my friends are for it, and some of my friends are against it. I’m sticking with my friends.” Jesus did not leave us room for such a nonsensical stand about him. We need to pray from our hearts, “I surrender all, I surrender all. All to Thee, my Blessed Savior, I surrender all.” Unconditional surrender–“Thy will be done”–is the one right choice for us.
* Quotation from Harvey Cox