Thursday, June 2, 2011

GLAD!!!

Have you noticed that there are some passages in scripture that become so familiar we are apt to read over them without actually letting the words touch our hearts? I confess, it often happens to me.

Then there are moments when that gentle nudge causes you to stop for a moment, and in that small pocket of time the words come alive.

It happened to me this morning when I was reading my little devotional, "Daily Light." The page was filled with verses about God being with us.

John 20:19-20
King James Version (KJV)

"Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.

And when He had so said, he shewed unto them His hands and His side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the LORD."

They are so familiar to this Sunday School girl who spent years, blessed years, memorizing scripture and trying to win every "Sword Drill" our teachers threw at us. But there was a catch in my heart this time.

There they all were, Jesus' disciples, bereft and frightened - but with a glimmer of hope having heard the report that the tomb was empty. Waiting...with doors locked and imaginations running wild.

Suddenly He was there in the room with them. Did they rub their eyes to make sure what they were seeing was real? Did they even know it was really Him? He knew their hearts and saw their thoughts revealed in expressions of hope and fear. He showed them the scars, and they knew.

The Bible says,"Then were the disciples glad..." GLAD!?! I think the Father must have smiled a bit when He had John pen that word. Understatement can't begin to describe it, I thought. GLAD!

What must it have been like to see Him after witnessing the events of the past few days? This One whom they loved and in whom all their hopes rested. This One who they thought had gone away forever. This One who had loved them enough to die for them. I can only imagine the tears and hugs and smiles and perhaps just a little jumping for joy.

What will it be like, I wondered, when I see Him? Will I be glad? Oh yes, I will. But it will be so much more than glad. When I'm able to get my face up off the ground, I want to dance and leap and sing for joy. Glad, glad, glad. Unending happiness to be with the One who gave Himself for me, who lives to make intercession for me, who pours grace and mercy into my sin-sick heart and clothes me in His righteousness.

Yes, I will be glad!! And the amazing part is - He will be glad too. I am overwhelmed by such love.

Hopping over to join Emily's imperfect prose.

Blessings,
Linda