Praise God for a weekend of reprieve staring my team in the face as we come off a 10-day stretch running wide open, pursuing every manner and type of product imaginable, while doing our best to keep the Jesus thing as priority one. Whether it be the foot of a bed or the base of a mountain, understanding the need for rest when the feet washing is at its most unpleasant, is imperative to finishing the race and encouraging others to do the same.
Earlier this week, while running errands, I bumped into a good friend of mine.Our exchange of banter eventually led to a request for advice on using a certain company in town to handle some inter-office services. Having just experienced a second-rate repair, I wasted no time jumping on the opportunity to warn my friend of the looming trouble headed his way. The memory of their maintenance was fresh and raw and my response to his question was derogatory and emotional.We reciprocated a few more stories, gave each other a hug and went on our way.
While standing in line at the bank, the Lord brought me to my knees as the Holy Spirit connected me to a verse in Genesis. The story of Joseph blinded my entitled eyes and broke my pompous heart. A reminder that despite any and all horrendous crimes and every “I told you so” in between, at no point does the life of a believer have the right to treat anyone as they please. At no point am I granted a pass to withhold forgiveness even when the infraction is severe. How I love someone and at what distance I’m willing to travel to save peace, enumerates into the only currency worth depositing. And a failure to understand this, leaves my feet a horizon away from the emerald throne of God Almighty.
It was Jesus who pursued the woman at the well, and it was He who found the leper on his path of despair. It was Him who knelt by the pool of Bethesda and it was He who held back the flames in the fiery furnace. There was no waiting and no grass to grow under His feet. He ran to them, and He runs to me and my only play in the matter is to carry my cross, love my enemy and forgive until the oxygen in these lungs is no more.
