Most people wouldn't have recognized the man. When hewas brought into Bellevue Hospital in New York City, he had abadly bruised forehead and a deep gash in his throat. He wasobviously just a street bum - a "wino" - who had come to the end of the road. Unable to eat, he languished on his bed forthree days - and then died. It was a sad case of misery.

The young man was only 38 when he died but he looked twice his age. He had been living in the Bowery in a cheap boarding house where you could share a room with others for twenty-five cents a night. The houses were filled with men who were starving and sick. Most of them only lived to drink.

It was in the boarding house on a cold January morning that the accident happened. The young man had staggered to the sink to wash but somehow, he slipped and fell. The basin had shattered, slicing open his throat with a deep cut. A doctor had finally come and sewed up the gash with black sewing thread. Although semi-conscious, the man had begged for some liquor. From there he was taken to the hospital -and the final three days of his life.

What made it all so tragic was that life hadn't always been this way. He had been born near Pittsburgh, PA. andwas educated at Jefferson College. His musical talent was evident early in life and his first published song came when he was only eighteen. Many like "Oh! Susanna" and "My Old Kentucky Home" became widely popular and brought him fame and fortune. Over 200 songs filled an amazing career. You see, the man from the Bowery was none other than Stephen Foster, the American song-writer whose works are well-known around the world. He had the talent of a genius but he died a poor drunken derelict on the streets of NewYork. All he had at the end was a dirty, ragged coat, thirty-eight cents in one pocket and a scrap of paper in the other. Unable to control his drinking, he had come to an untimely death.

Another man who followed a downward course was King Saul. Mind you, he didn't die in a charity hospital in NewYork! But both men missed the tremendous potentials and intended blessings because of lives of sin and self-will. Saul had been chosen by God to be the first king of Israel. He knew the Word of God and heard the godly counsel of Samuel. God had blessed him with great victories. But despite it all, Saul decided that he had a better way. His disobedience to God's command led to hatred, envy, rebellionand even witchcraft. It finally led to the bloody death at Gilboa.

I hope that you learn from the sad examples of thesemen. Sin and disobedience rob a man of all that God intends for him, both now and forever.

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