"And He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s cast, and kneeled down, and prayed. Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done. And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him. And being in agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground." LUKE 22:41-44 kjv

I have been "adopted" by several children. In each case, the kid said something like, "I wish you’d been MY grandpa. Could you, would you, be my grandpa?"

The emotional overload is incredible! My eyes watered up. My heart pounded! A wave of nearly indescribable feeling washed over me! I could not have said "no" to any of them any more than I could have flapped my arms and flown to the moon!

(A by-product of this is that I now understand how important it is to a woman to have someone ask for her hand, in marriage.)

Each of these children occupies a permanent, special place in my heart. Each is the subject of a great deal of prayer-time. I love them all just as if they had actually been my kids or grandkids. In some ways, perhaps a bit more, just because they asked. Because they are neither relatives, nor dependants, I can do nothing for them from a legal standpoint, so I worry about them even more.

When problems arise in their lives, especially because there is absolutely nothing I can do about those problems, it feels as though a tremendous weight has been dropped heavily onto my neck and shoulders. I wish I could take on their burdens. I wish there were some magic button I could push to fix everything instantly, but, of course, there is not. (A good friend once told me that I have the worst case of "White Knight Syndrome" he’s ever seen.)

When all you can do in this world is to hurt for someone you care deeply about, prayer is the first and only answer. Most guys aren’t made this way. We want to grab the problem by the horns, do battle, and emerge victorious!

All of us who are Christians are "adoptees" of Christ. By virtue of our asking Him to be our Saviour, and accepting His sacrifice, we have become His. He loves each and every one of us far more than I ever could any of the children who’ve "adopted" me. I know of no limit as to what I would do to protect any of "my kids," but Jesus did so much more!

What a matchless example of love our God is! Kneeling, praying in the garden, Jesus knew the trouble we would get into. He knew that many would fail and never make it to heaven. He knew the endless pitfalls that Satan has laid out for us, and He knew we would fail Him repeatedly. He still paid the price.

Are we worth it? Any honest person would have to say that not one of us is. Yet, He still paid the price! He carried our load of guilt, took the blame for us, and died in our place!

All you have to do is accept this incredible sacrifice, knowing that sin has made each of us unworthy, but He did it anyway! Then, get out and tell everyone else. God wants us all to be "adopted."

See you soon, in Paradise!

Keep OFF the Beaten Path!

Time to go to work… hop into the car and go! Shopping with the kids… into the SUV and away we go! Planning a visit with the in-laws in the next town is no problem, thirty-five miles is an easy drive, right? Some new pants and a blouse or two is just a quick hop over to Stuff-Mart. Life goes on, same as always.

All our day-to-day traveling needs, regardless of destination, involve transit upon streets and highways. We are very comfortable with this arrangement, so comfortable, in fact, that we often feel we could travel these roadways blindfolded.

If it were not for these wonderful streets and freeways, we would have to blaze new paths every time we needed to go somewhere. It is much easier to follow the existing pathways, isn’t it?

Our spiritual lives are very much the same. Doing what God wants us to do, that which we know to be the right thing, involves our blazing new pathways. We have to ignore the smooth, easy, wide thoroughfare that already exists. Many times this easy roadway, the path of sin, is the one we have followed throughout our entire lives. Great or small, we have all sinned, further "improving" the way "that leads to destruction."

What does the Word have to say about this?
MATT 7:13-14 "Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is easy, that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard, that leads to life, and those who find it are few." rsv

It is too easy to follow sin’s existing path. It is very hard to leave the trail behind and forge a new one where we’ve never gone before. In times of stress it is much easier to follow the familiar roadways.

So… where are we all going? And what are we doing in this hand basket?

I am as guilty as everyone else. Let your guard down just a bit, hard times, poor health, physical or mental pain, and guess what? Back to the old, familiar ways…

Fight the temptation to go the easy way! Get off the road! Search for the narrow path, the one that is difficult to travel. The reward is beyond measure!

See you soon, in Paradise!