You know children are always interesting and ever changing little creations. Recently while holding my youngest grandson on my hip, I asked him to " give Gammie a kiss"! Well, my requests are almost always met with sweet compliance and a hug to go along with it, however, not on this occasion. For whatever reason, when the question was posed he began to reach for my daughter and cried out, "momma" as if he needed to be rescued from me! I didnt know quite what to make of it but gave him over to the arms of his mother so he would be quieted. For whatever reason at that point he just wanted the comfort and safety of the one that he knew always gave it! Don't get me wrong, he allows me to have kisses and hugs all the time but just at some particular times (maybe having a rough or needy day) he choses the familiar safety of his mothers arms. His cry for "momma" brought him just what he had need of at that moment.
This little scene brought a story to mind that has always been hard to imagine for me of how the following incident could ever have happened. The story is that of the day of Jesus' crucifixion and specifically the incident of Pilate. When Pilate decided to give the choice of who would be crucified, Jesus or someone else of the crowds choosing, the crowd chose another prisoner named Barabbas. We've seen in the making of many great movies of the Life of Christ, that scene with multitudes of people watching as Jesus stood before Pilate and the crowd and we heard the question, "who should be released Jesus or Barabbas?" and without hesitation you then saw the multitudes cry out, "Barabbas, Barabbas. . . . " . I always watched in amazement at those sad, misguided people who would choose Barabbas, a convicted prisoner, over the sinless, blameless and loving Christ! What had the people of the world become? What were they thinking? Why couldn't they see the "not guilty" banner over my Lords head? What kind of a choice was that anyway? But, nonetheless, the choice for Barabbas was made! Isn't it true too, that many times in our lives when faced with making a right or a wrong choice that we sometimes choose "unwisely" and it changes everything! Today, as you sit here reading this story are you on a diet and are you following it to the letter or have you said, "what the heck, this one little cookie won't hurt me"? Or, do you have important work to finish and you are surfing the Internet instead? Or, well, I could go on but I won't, because you get the picture I'm sure! You see, whose name you cry out WILL make a difference! It could be the name "desire" instead of "discipline" or it could be the name "procrastination" instead of "work". Whatever name you cry out will be the chosen course for your life at that moment. But here's the good news. . . . . Courses can be corrected! You can decide to choose "peace" over "anger" and you can decide to choose "discipline" over "self" and you can decide to cry out the name of "Jesus" instead of "Me"! It's the name that we cry out that dictates the courses of our lives. It's the name that we cry out that could change everything either from good to bad or from bad to good. Whose name is on your lips today? Is it a cry to others around you to pull you to safety from the pit you are currently in or is it a cry to Jesus to save you and your life from future pits? Is the name that you cry out one of safety and comfort in loving familiar arms like my little grandsons cry? Or, is the name you cry out one of "money", "fame" or fortune that you believe will change everything for the good in your life? Now, back to Barabbas. . . . .you see that day, as I look back, the name that was cried out (Barabbas) was the name that was meant to be spoken. You see, if Jesus' name was the cry at that time then we wouldn't have the hope for the future that we have now. So, NOW is the time to cry out his name because his name holds far more than we will ever know or realize that we have need of. And like my little grandson, the safety and constant love and care will always be felt in those arms.
Insight Insert: You know that saying " you'll know them by their fruit?", well that means you will be able to recognize who and what a person is by the things that are growing out of their lives. Whose name is on your lips continually will be someone who is probably the most influential in your life. Stop and take stock this week of the things that you seem to talk about the most and the subjects that most consume your conversations. That will say a lot about your "fruit" and give you pause to make the judgement to whether it is fresh healthy fruit or rotten fruit. If you need to make a course correction then make it but make sure that whose name you cry out to change things in your life is the one who made the ultimate change for us!
Scripture: Psalm 57:2. I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills his purpose for me. NIV
No comments:
Post a Comment