Invite Him Over
"For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of
him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in
his own glory, and in his Father's, and of the holy angels."
- Luke 9:26
My dad has always been my biggest fan.
As a youngster, I excelled in sports...and my dad was always
an active part of my athletics.
Early on, I played a lot of baseball. Summer after summer my
dad would load up our truck and cart half of my team to our
games. Home games, away games, regular games, all-star
games, tournament games -- my dad was at all of them.
He was always there, in the stands, cheering on his son,
proud as he could be of me...whether I made that
game-winning unbelievable catch in the tournament game or I
struck out with the bases loaded. I was his son and he was
proud of me.
Later, I began to play football. And, our games were on
Saturday mornings. Unfortunately, my dad had to work on
Saturdays. I remember one Saturday morning I busted up the
middle and ran for an 80 yard touchdown. It was my one
moment in the spotlight in football (I was a skinny runt
back then -- not really made for football)
I remember later in the game, thinking that I wish my dad
could have seen me. It was then that I noticed a smiling
father in the stands. He had come to the game on his lunch
hour to see his son play.
In high school, I switched sports again, this time choosing
tennis. I ended up playing four years, and loved every
minute of it.
But, a strange thing happened as I began to play tennis. I
really didn't want my dad to show up for my matches. I was a
full-fledged teenager now, and it wasn't cool to have your
dad hanging around.
I let my dad know that it wasn't necessary for him to attend
my first tennis match. Dad got the message, he wasn't wanted
there.
I remember very well that day of my first match. I was a
nervous wreck, not really knowing what to expect. I began
the match and as I began hitting the tennis ball back and
forth to my opponent, I noticed, out of the corner of my
eye, a man walking slowly through the city park that
adjoined the tennis courts.
He proceeded with great caution towards the courts. And when
he got within viewing distance of a certain son, he just
stood there, off in the shadows, where no one could see him,
just waiting to be invited over.
And he watched me play my first match of tennis.
He never said a word that day. Maybe he didn't even know
that I saw him. But, his actions said something to me that
I'll never forget. I may have been embarrassed by him, but
he was as proud as ever of me.
You know, I think that Jesus must feel like my dad
sometimes. When we were "younger" we wanted Him to be
around. We wanted Him involved in all the games of our
lives. We longed to hear Him cheer us on and to be a part of
everything we do.
But somehow, if we're not careful, we stop inviting Him to
be a part of our lives. We get involved in things like work
and hobbies and relationships where folks think it's not
cool to have Him around.
And so, He stands there, off in the shadows, just waiting
for us to invite Him over. He desires so very much to be an
active part of our lives. He longs to have an intimate
relationship with each of us.
Christian, what about it this morning? Is Jesus off in the
shadows somewhere because something else has taken His
place?
Why not invite Him over?
Have a "Wonderful DAY in Christ,
Jimmy D. Brown comments@Living4Jesus.com