He walks down the street every morning as I leave. He has a way that he walks that I can notice from far away. He is an older man, always in an orange t-shirt and white ball cap, perhaps to be seen from afar. He walks his dog on the leash and every time I pass by he gives a big wave…even though his back is to me!!
Today I was leaving a bit later than normal and he was walking facing me. I almost felt I was late because he was on the return trip. Again, with his whole arm he gives a friendly wave not caring if I wave back or not. A wave is such a beautiful thing and we have sorely lost that in our culture. Wave at a stranger-maybe in your neighborhood- today and see what happens!!!
The second marker I have is the guy in the black corvette! He always has his parking lights on so I see him coming down the street. He looks like a cool star wars type machine! We live in a wooded area so it’s still dawn and a bit dark as I leave. Seeing his car as I come out of the neighborhood is the second marker I need in the morning to know I am on schedule.
The third marker I need as I leave in the morning is to pass by my former church, Christ Lutheran, and to see Jesus in the window! Sometime ago someone etched into the large glass pane above the doors a larger than life size image of Jesus! They have set lights at the base of it so it looks really “real” as you drive by. I need to see Jesus as a marker in my life, don’t you??
We do see Jesus as we crack open the Gospel of John(I am inviting all of us to read 7 chapters a week until the meeting together!!) and see another HUGE marker. “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God….and in him was life!”
The Word. What “Word” might you ask? How about a word of grace? Love? Hope? Jesus as the Word of God is all of that….we might tighten it up and call it Gospel. The Good News of Jesus….is the Word of life for us all.
In the Greek the word for “good news” is (roughly) “euangelion” from which we today get our word evangelical. We are a church of the “good news” evangelical…and we are the VDC also part of the “good news” as we evangelize our environments!
May Jesus be your mark of ashes on your forehead and the water of life in baptism that washes those ashes clean. The marker of grace is all we need in life…sins forgiven, a future promised. Yesterday a dying woman said to me about all of this “Are you sure?” and I said Yes, Ma’m, I’m sure. Jesus loves me this I know because the Bible tells me so!
For you and me today we can mark that as the truth!
Have a good weekend,
Peace be with you,
Pr. Doug
Eric is our current Webmaster and works on the NLS Communications Team. Raised in Judaism, he found Christ and the New Testament at age 16 in a Southern Baptist Church. He searched many denominations for the real church, only to find the Holy Spirit is present in all of them. He's worked for One for Israel, a group of native Israeli believers who are sharing the gospel in the holy land in Hebrew and is part of the only Hebrew speaking seminary in Israel.
