Way
and Jordan sat on the bench in front of the theatre sipping their chocolate
shakes completely oblivious to the time as they lost themselves in their conversation. Way continued: “Son, I can’t say it enough,
everything costs something. It costs to
live for and love God with all of your heart.
The price we pay is dying to our own selfish desires, understanding and
motives daily. It may not sound like a
lot but it is. Do you remember the story
of the rich man from the bible?” Jordan
vaguely remembered so Way re-captured it:
“Jesus and the
disciples arrived in Judea and as usual they drew a huge crowd. As he was starting out on a trip, a man came
running to him and knelt down and asked, “Good Teacher, what must I do to get
to heaven?” “Why
do you call me good?”
Jesus asked. “Only
God is truly good! But as for your question—you know the
commandments: don’t kill, don’t commit adultery, don’t steal, don’t lie, don’t
cheat, respect your father and mother.” “Teacher,” the man replied, “I’ve never
once broken a single one of those laws.” Jesus felt genuine love for this man as he
looked at him. “You
lack only one thing,”
he told him; “go
and sell all you have and give the money to the poor—and you shall have
treasure in heaven—and come, follow me.” Then the man’s face fell, and he went sadly away,
for he was very rich. Jesus watched him
go, then turned around and said to his disciples, “It’s almost impossible for the rich to
get into the Kingdom of God!” This amazed them. So Jesus
said it again: “Dear children, how hard it is for those
who trust in riches to enter the
Kingdom of God. It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a
rich man to enter the Kingdom of God.” The disciples were incredulous! “Then who in the world can be saved,
if not a rich man?” they asked. Jesus
looked at them intently, then said, “Without God, it is
utterly impossible. But with God everything is possible.” Then Peter began to
mention all that he and the other disciples had left behind. “We’ve given up
everything to follow you,” he said. And
Jesus replied, “Let me assure you that no one has ever
given up anything—home, brothers, sisters, mother, father, children, or
property—for love of me and to tell others the Good News, who won’t be given back, a hundred times
over, homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and land—with persecutions!
Mark 10:17-31 (NLT).
Let
me clear something up. 1): many people
take verses 23-25 out of context and use it as ammunition
There
are countless people that choose their lifestyles over God every day, some of
them are fully aware of the huge consequences (cost) to be willfully
disobedient, and as much as God loves them, he respects their free will to disobey. God still loves those people but he CANNOT
have a relationship with them until they meet him on his terms which includes a
complete surrender of everything mentally, spiritually, emotionally, physically
that will hinder them from serving God in their full capacity. The bottom line is that anything that
prevents us from completely surrendering our lives to God becomes our god and
it doesn’t matter whether it is people (including ourselves), places and/or
things. Love is an action word and God’s
word on this subject is plain and simple: If you love me, obey my commandments. John
14:15 (NLT). Anything outside of
that means you don’t completely love God and you’re an idol worshipper. It’s very cut and dry, there are no gray
areas on loving God because he loves completely, withholding nothing, not even
his son, Jesus Christ.”
Way
looked at his watch and realized the movie was about to start. Jordan said “Dad, I know we already have
movie passes, but can we give them to someone and talk instead, I have some
questions?” Way could hardly believe his
ears. He wanted to jump up, click his
heels three times before landing and do backflips but instead he looked his son
in the eyes and said “Sure, son; why don’t you pick someone to bless.” Jordan scanned the crowd for a few minutes
(as Way prayed for the right choice). He
spotted a woman and a boy who looked to be around 6 and discretely pointed them
out to his Dad. Way gave the pre-paid
movie passes to Jordan and said, since this is your idea, I’ll let you do the
honors. They walked towards the woman
and the boy with her. Jordan said,
“Excuse me Miss, my dad and I decided not to go to the movies and rather than
throw our passes away, would you mind if we give them to you?” The woman was absolutely dumbfounded. She looked at her son, he returned the gaze
and she just stared at Jordan. He felt a
little awkward and repeated the question.
She started to cry which was freaking Jordan out and through tears she
said: “I don’t even know why we’re
here. I don’t have a dime to my name but
I just wanted to get my son out of the shelter and pretend that things are
normal. I lost my job, my husband left
and I spent the last money I had on a happy meal for him. He’s been on his head to see to Rio 2 but I
figured if we walked over here so he could see the posters and promise him I
would bring him back later that would satisfy him. I am speechless.
Way
introduced himself and asked her name and she replied Grace. Her son’s name is Berakhah (Hebrew for
Blessing). Way asked if he could pray
for them and she said yes. When they
ended the prayer it was his intention to give her the cash he had on him, about
$200.00 but Jordan reached in his pocket, gave the Grace the passes as well as
a Visa gift card they could use to get something to eat. Way saw what it was and he was blown
away. It was the $500 gift card that his
mother gave him for making the honor roll.
As
little “Blessing” jumped up and down with excitement Grace grabbed Jordan and
gave him a big bear hug and shook Way’s hand.
They scurried off to the theatre and Jordan and Way headed for the
parking lot in complete silence. Just as
they reached the car, Jordan said “Dad, do you think that was an example of God
using us to show His love?” Way replied, “Without a doubt.” He reached for his son who fell in his arms
and this time they both cried silently without a care in the world.” When they released their embrace, Jordan
asked his dad if he thought Grace would spend the money on the wrong
thing. Way replied, “She would be a fool
to do so after that prayer I prayed to only multiply the money if she does the
right thing with it.” They rode home in
silence, both soaking up the love of the Father.
In
His Humble Love
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