Thursday, February 12, 2004

But as for that in the good soil, these are the ones who, when they hear the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patient endurance.
(Luke 8.15 NRSV)
Colleen Townsend Evans tells about a moving dream a friend recounted to her. The dream began in a great, open room, filled with distraught and sorrowful people. As the people milled about, the door to the room opened and Jesus stepped in. He turned to a man nearby and asked, "What is the matter, My child?" The man replied that he wasted his life in chasing after business success. All his workaholism left no time for a relationship with the Lord. Jesus asked, "But didn't you get my letter?" The man seemed astonished that Jesus had written him a letter. Jesus said, "Oh yes, I wrote you a letter. I said, 'Consider the lilies of the field . . . how they grow. They toil not, neither do they spin . . . Seek you first My Kingdom . . . and all the things you need I will give to you.'" The man's anguished reply was, "My pastor told me of this letter, but I never knew you wrote it for me!"

Then Jesus approached a sobbing woman. She confessed that ever since her husband died she had spent her life in worrying, always fretting about the future and what it may hold for her. Jesus asked, "But, My child, didn't you read my letter?"

"You wrote me a letter, Lord? Surely, if you had written me a letter, I would have read it right away."

And Jesus answered, "But I know I wrote to you and said, 'Happy are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted . . . Do not be anxious for tomorrow . . . I will give you whatever you need.'"

The woman recalled with a start that those were the very words the pastor quoted at her husband's funeral. Did Jesus really mean them to apply to her life?

"Oh, yes," Jesus replied, "I wrote that for you."

Jesus continued around the room, talking to each sorrowing person. In each case, he heard tales of people turning away from God to pursue riches, ambition, lusts, pride. And in every case, Jesus answered them with a letter meant specifically for their lives. Colleen Evans asks, "Have you read Jesus' letter to you?"

Dear God, guide me as I read your letter everyday. Amen.

Ron Newhouse

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