 Eventually,
someone, somehow, heard those words in the depth of his or her heart
and stopped. Something tells me it was someone so utterly
desperate, so terribly broken. Someone with nothing of this
world to lean on, nothing to be proud of or claim as his own.
Some devastated somebody who knew only one thing: "My life's a
mess, and I need God." It's
always those kinds of people, isn't it? People whose hearts have
been chafed raw, people who have been exhausted of earthly resource,
stripped to dry bone, rejected and spit out by the things they trusted
and a world that welcomes only the beautiful and successful. But
whoever it was, the day came, the heart opened, and the floodwaters of God's grace began to breathe new life into hungry souls across
the land. And before long, Jesus
would look around His once lonely campfire and see a ragtag team of
unlikely faces lounging about, listening, questioning, doubting,
wondering. A thief, a prostitute, a couple of fishermen. A
man who would sit beneath His cross and watch Him die, and a man who
would sell Him into that death for pocket change. Though
thousands would eventually come, these few would be his closest ...
a questionable gathering of absolute nobodies who, for reasons
probably beyond their own grasp, had each turned their backs and
walked away from every security they had built in life. Little
did they realize that seemingly mindless decision—that decision their
relatives and friends undoubtedly laughed at and scolded them for—would springboard them into the most remarkable, most privileged,
most rare and extraordinary adventure in all of human experience: a
day-by-day, side-by-side walk with the Son of the Living
God. Can you imagine it?
Eavesdropping on the deepest secrets of the kingdom of
heaven. Partaking in the most significant events of all
time. They would gaze into His eyes, hang on the tenor of His
voice, dance to the joy-song of His salvation, and watch Him
single-handedly alter the course of universal history. "Land
of Zebulun and land of Naphtali,
the way to the sea,
along the Jordan,
Galilee of the Gentiles—
The people living in darkness have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death,
a light
has dawned."
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Text and photo taken from
Jesus...Yesterday, Today, Forever, by Bruce
Marchiano (p. 32-34). In Jesus...YTF, you'll taste what only a
handful of people tasted 2,000 years ago as Jesus walked among His
most treasured, beloved creation: people. Filled with
breathtaking color photos from The Visual Bible™'s "Matthew."
Jesus...Yesterday,
Today, Forever. Copyright © 1999 by Bruce Marchiano. Published by Harvest House
Publishers, Eugene, Oregon 97402 and Visual
Entertainment, Dallas, Texas 75248. Used on www.LoveLavished.org
by permission.
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