Daily Devotionals

Do not murder (Exodus 20:13).

Four U. S. presidents were assassinated, contrary to the commandment, "Do not murder" (Exodus 20:13). Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States, was shot in a movie theater by an actor who was a confederate sympathizer. The murderer did not act alone. A number of co-conspirators simultaneously attempted to kill the vice-president and other cabinet members.

James Garfield, the 20th president of the United States, was in office only a few months before he was killed by a disgruntled office seeker. On the way to his 25th college reunion, he was struck down by a bullet that lodged in his spine. He died eighty days later.

William McKinley, the 25th president of the United States, was assassinated by an anarchist who fired two shots at close range. The president died eight days later.

John Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, was killed by a communist sympathizer who shot him in the head with a bullet from a high caliber rifle.

The deaths of these presidents changed the course of history.

As momentous as these assassinations were, history was most radically altered when the Son of God was executed at the hands of his own creation. Surely, this act continues to change the course of human history by making it possible for us to receive forgiveness for our sins.

...seek to spread the word of life in a world so filled with death.

EK