Man, Son, Neighbor Swallowed by Cesspool

Staff and agencies
24 April, 2006

HUNTINGTON, N.Y. - A 71-year-old man who went outside in the rain to pick up the Sunday newspaper plunged into a cesspool in his front yard, and his son and neighbor were sucked in when they tried to help.

Andrew Palladino said the soggy ground, soaked by two days of rain, gave way outside his Long Island home: "I walked across the lawn, and all of a sudden I disappeared."

A neighbor who heard the commotion ran over to help — but the ground gave way again, swallowing him and the son. The neighbor crawled out and passers-by tried to hold onto the others until the Huntington Fire Department arrived.

It‘s not the first time a cesspool — a pit that collects waste from toilets and sinks — has swallowed someone in Huntington.

photo courtesy wnbc.com & story courtesy localnewsleader.com, 04/24/06

⁵⁴When this happens--when our perishable earthly bodies have been transformed into heavenly bodies that will never die--then at last the Scriptures will come true:
      "Death is swallowed up in victory.
      ⁵⁵O death, where is your victory?
            O death, where is your sting?"
⁵⁶For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. ⁵⁷How we thank God, who gives us victory over sin and death through Jesus Christ our Lord!

WHY DOES TODAY'S SCRIPTURE GIVE US THE ULTIMATE HOPE?

Check out these study notes from Tyndale's LIFE APPLICATION STUDY BIBLE:

15:54-56  Satan seemed to be victorious in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3) and at the cross of Jesus.  But God turned Satan's apparent victory into defeat when Jesus Christ rose from the dead (Colossians 2:15; Hebrews 2:14, 15).  So, death is no longer a source of dread or fear.  Christ overcame it, and one day we will also.  The law will no longer make sinners out of us just because we cannot keep it.  Death has been defeated, and we have hope beyond the grave.

Can you imagine walking in your yard and getting swallowed up in a cesspool of sewage?  That 71-year-old man thought he was in the grave until he was rescued.

Here's the deal: Our attempts at being good enough to make it to Heaven will leave us drowning in religious sewage.  But, Jesus Christ loved us so much that He died and rose again to rescue us from our sins.

We don't have to be swallowed up by sin and death, because Jesus Christ has already won the victory!

• The next time you see a hole in the ground, thank Jesus that this will not be the end of your story.
• Memorize 1st Corinthians 15:57 as a daily reminder of the victory and power that Jesus gives you.
• Use this Devo to share your story with someone who has expressed an interest in knowing God's Story as it relates to life beyond the grave.

Daily Devos is published Monday through Friday. Archives can be found at YFC.ORG.  Its purpose is to help you apply truths from God's Word every day.

Our writer, Byron Emmert, has been involved with Youth For Christ for 30 years. He's served as Campus Life Staff, as a writer, and in leadership for the DCLA Conferences. Byron is married to Linda and their family includes two married sons and daughters-in-law, and a daughter in college.  He loves sports, deep dish pizza, and spending time with his family.