Then he said to them all, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.
(Luke 9.23
NRSV)
The story is told of a traveler crossing the desert who came at nightfall to a small tent where he asked for food and shelter. "What do you call your god?" the host asked. When the traveler replied that he did not believe in God, the man turned him away.
The Lord appeared to the tent dweller in his troubled sleep and asked about the guest. "I put him out of my tent," the man replied, "because he had no god."
Then the Lord said, "If you will go outside and look up, you will see by the light of the stars a sky far greater than the roof of your tent. I have not shut anyone out because he didn't know as much as he ought to know. If I can give shelter to the unworthy in my vast world, could you not give your unworthy guest a little shelter in your tiny tent?"
This is Christian living as it is meant to be. Our lives are lived in such a way as to be an example to others. But not just that. We move beyond example. We seek to encourage others, so that we may be encouraged ourselves. And we take what for many of us will be the most difficult step of all--to accept others and forgive others as God in Christ has forgiven us. This is what it truly means to be "followers of God."
Loving God, may I learn to be a good follower of yours by forgiving your children and helping them to know you better. Amen.
