“His Words Are True”

My good friend Dick was reflecting on yesterday’s gospel passage from Luke 7:18-23 where Jesus spoke about the “blind, lame, lepers, deaf, and the dead” being healed. He spoke about how responding to the Lord’s invitation changed his life and he was healed of these afflictions. Listen up:

“Well, when I asked Jesus to be the center of my life, forty-four plus years ago, I was pretty blind, spiritually, and He immediately gave me sight – sight such as I had never before experienced, such as the ability to see His work in my life and the lives of those around me; or to recognize Truth in what I read or heard in Scripture.  I was lame, in that I walked crookedly, in and out of righteousness, searching for absolute Truth; and He set my path straight – to Him, as the source of all Truth.  I was afflicted with a certain leprosy of the soul, a strong tendency toward relativism, judging others and myself according to my ideas of truth instead of relying solely on the Truth that could be found only in Jesus Christ.  I heard only what I wanted to hear – a deafness of my own making – and Jesus taught me to listen carefully to Him and His inspirations.  I was, in a certain way, like a dead man, no longer hearing the Truth where it was being proclaimed.  And Jesus brought me to life, and instilled in me a new love for Truth and a desire to preach it with my words and my life.  And I began to do it in a new path that Jesus cleared for my life and my words – helping to bring His Truth to those who needed to hear it.”

Wow, what a beautiful and compelling witness of the power of the gospel. What’s great about Dick’s witness is that what he experienced is available to everyone. In a nutshell, what Jesus told John the Baptist’s followers was, “turn to me and you can become whole and happy…now and forever”. I can add my witness to Dick’s. It’s true. Take a chance on the Lord and his invitation. 

That’s why we are preparing during Advent …keeping one eye on the great historical event of Christ’s birth, and the other eye on his 2^nd coming. Despite any hardship we may be enduring, let’s keep our eyes on the Lord. In the end, God will have the last word. If we end this life as friends of the Lord, we will begin our next life, our eternal life, as his friend. And that is the best news ever.