Before You Were Born

I have been dwelling on topics for blogs lately. It has been a long time since I posted on this blog site. Yesterday I was talking to a good friend, thinking about the birth of my daughter, Sarah, over 11 years ago.

I realized the other night what this love that Jesus has for us is like. I thought to the time my wife carried Sarah. I used to talk to her in my wife's belly, sing to her, and massage her. Sarah used to respond to me. She jumped and moved when she heard my voice. I realize now I loved her before she was born. I didn't know, or care what she looked like, sounded like, or even if she was 'imperfect'. I loved her.

In that same way Jesus loved us. He knows the numbers of hair on our head, and the days of our lives. He loved us from the beginning. That is what I love about Jesus. Despite our imperfections, our blemishes, our future mistakes, He loved us before we were born.

March 2010

Rick

Bad Things Happen

Last night my lovely wife and I watched "The Green Mile" with Tom Hanks as a guard who watched convicts on Death Row. The guards called this last walk "The Green Mile".
As the movie progressed we were introduced to several of the condemned. A new arrival, played by Michael Clarke Duncan, appears to be guilty of a heinous crime. For this he is to be executed.

He is the central figure in the movie, told through the eyes of Hank's character. Clarke is introduced in a flashback. He is leaning against a log with two lifeless bodies, crying out "I got them too late. It was too late."
We discover that John Coffey ("just like the drink but spelled different.") has a special power.
In a cataclysmic ending Hanks character discovers the truth behind Coffey's conviction.
Coffey explains that he sees all the evil thoughts of the world. The only way to end this "gift" is to sacrifice his life. This reminds me of another who willingly gave his life.

While it is hard to comprehend the entire salvation experience, Christ is the sacrificial lamb who gave his life for us. As we prepare to celebrate the Easter holiday, remember what was given so that you can have eternal life, not in torment, but in heaven.
We are given choices daily - good or bad, hot or cold, even safe or living on the edge. How we respond to each determines our journey. The same is relative to where we spend eternity. Please take time to dwell on this simple blog. We are here on earth just mere decades. You can't afford to take the chance that life ends when your last breath is taken.