At tourist attractions in Australia you can watch a demonstration of the returning boomerang. This hunting tool is shaped in such a way that, when thrown correctly, it actually returns to the hand of the thrower if it misses the target. Quite an impressive stunt! My World Mission Souvenir is decorated with aboriginal folk art.
Do you believe in karma? We’ve all heard that “what goes around comes around,” meaning that our thoughts or actions can “boomerang” back to us, whether we intend for that to happen or not. The concept is a common feature of Hinduism and Buddhism, extending even to the idea that the sum of our thoughts and actions in this life determine our existence in the next.
St. Paul wrote, A man reaps what he sows (Galatians 6). His point is that there are natural consequences to our decisions and behavior. Though the Bible does not teach the concept of karma, Scripture makes clear that sin separates us from God and if this situation is not remedied, its consequence will be eternal: separation in hell.
Thankfully, we know God has intervened to break sin’s recurring pattern of misery for mankind. David wrote that God does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. Rather, he says, He forgives all my sins (Psalm 103). Repentance for our sin, faith in Christ’s sinless life before God on our behalf and his death at the cross as punishment for what’s wrong with us – through these we receive forgiveness for all our sins!
(Representatives of the ELS Board for World Outreach recently entered a supportive relationship with Our Redeemer Lutheran Church in Queensland, Australia.)
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