The Painting

A wealthy man and his son loved to collect rare works of art. They had everything in their collection, from Picasso to Raphael. They would often sit together and admire the great works of art.

When the Vietnam conflict broke out, the son went to war. He was very courageous and died in battle while rescuing another soldier. The father was notified and grieved deeply for his only son.

About a month later, just before Christmas, there was a knock at the door. A young man stood at the door with a large package in his hands.

He said, 'Sir, you don't know me, but I am the soldier for whom your son gave his life. He saved many lives that day, and he was carrying me to safety when a bullet struck him in the heart and he died instantly. He often talked about you, and your love for art.' The young man held out this package. 'I know this isn't much. I'm not really a great artist, but I think your son would have wanted you to have this.'

The father opened the package. It was a portrait of his son, painted by the young man. He stared in awe at the way the soldier had captured the personality of his son in the painting. The father was so drawn to the eyes that his own eyes welled up with tears. He thanked the young man and offered to pay him for the picture. 'Oh, no sir, I could never repay what your son did for me. It's a gift.'

The father hung the portrait over his mantle. Every time visitors came to his home he took them to see the portrait of his son before he showed them any of the other great works he had collected.

The man died a few months later. There was to be a great auction of his paintings. Many influential people gathered, excited over seeing the great paintings and having an opportunity to purchase one for their collection.

On the platform sat the painting of the son. The auctioneer pounded his gavel. 'We will start the bidding with this picture of the son. Who will bid for this picture?'

There was silence.

Then a voice in the back of the room shouted, 'We want to see the famous paintings. Skip this one.'

But the auctioneer persisted. 'Will somebody bid for this painting? Who will start the bidding? $100, $200?'

Another voice angrily. 'We didn't come to see this painting. We came to see the Van Gogh's, the Rembrandts. Get on with the real bids!'

But still the auctioneer continued. 'The son! The son! Who'll take the son?'

Finally, a voice came from the very back of the room. It was the longtime gardener of the man and his son. 'I'll give $10 for the painting..' Being a poor man, it was all he could afford.

'We have $10, who will bid $20?'

'Give it to him for $10. Let's see the masters.'

The crowd was becoming angry. They didn't want the picture of the son. They wanted the more worthy investments for their collections.

The auctioneer pounded the gavel. 'Going once, twice, SOLD for $10!'

A man sitting on the second row shouted, 'Now let's get on with the collection!'

The auctioneer laid down his gavel. 'I'm sorry, the auction is over.'

'What about the paintings?'

'I am sorry. When I was called to conduct this auction, I was told of a secret stipulation in the will. I was not allowed to reveal that stipulation until this time. Only the painting of the son would be auctioned. Whoever bought that painting would inherit the entire estate, including the paintings. The man who took the son gets everything!'

God gave His son 2,000 years ago to die on the cross. Much like the auctioneer, His message today is: 'The son, the son, who'll take the son?'

Because, you see, whoever takes the Son gets everything.

FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD HE GAVE HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON, WHO SO EVER BELIEVETH, SHALL HAVE ETERNAL LIFE...THAT'S LOVE

***
If you look at what you do not have in life, you don't have anything, If you look at what you have in life, you have everything.

If God brings you to it, He will bring you through it.
Happy moments, praise God.
Difficult moments, seek God.
Quiet moments, worship God.
Painful moments, trust God.
Every moment, thank God.

God's will

GOD'S WILL

I look to the left
and look to the right
no friend beside me
no end in sight

the road is long
the going tough
the heat is burning
the ground is rough

yet no evil will i fear
though doubts assail me
though inner voices cry
and rail and betray me

how could God be this way?
how could He let this be?
why am i in such a bind?
is he, God, out of his mind?

ask not why
but understand
reads a sign by the Spirit
written in the sand

MAKTUB. It is written, so the Alchemist said,
It is God's will.
God's will that you make it alive
much rather than dead.

and so His will unfolded
and i slowly understood
that my path had been made easy
guided and good

so i thanked him heartily
and gave him a smile
and stopped by to linger
and listen a while

to the sounds of laughter
from heaven above
of songs of joy and happiness
and the peace of the Dove

refreshed i continued
taking stride by stride
with newfound interest
and newfound pride

and i know that this journey
when the day is done
will find me in heaven
with the loving Three-in-One

Jesus' Invitation

In our discussion tonight, I brought up a "revelation" that I had during the week - it happened while I was reflecting on John 1:35-42.

My thoughts went like this...

- At first, I thought the John in the passage was John the disciple/gospel writer. After reading the verses leading up to verse 35 I realised that we were in fact, reading about John the Baptist (I'll refer to hiim as JTB).

- who were JTB's two disciples? One is named - Andrew - the other is not. Is it reasonable that the unnamed disciple might be John the gospel writer? Considering that John usually lists the names of those who were there at an event, but never seems to name himself, I hope this is a reasonable deduction.

Assuming that the unnamed disciple is John:

- Each of the synoptic gospels lists Simon, Andrew and his brother (Peter), and John and his brother (James) as the first disciples that Jesus calls. See Matthew 4:18-22, Mark 1:15-20, and Luke 5:3-11.

At first, it seems strange that these men would drop everything and follow Jesus as soon as they meet Him. It also seems a bit unreasonable that Jesus seems to expect us to do the same. However, when we take into account the events in John 1:35-42, we see that Jesus didn't randomly pick up men off the streets to be His disciples, nor did the these men drop everything to be disciples to a stranger.

Instead, each of these men were introduced to Jesus by someone they trusted: Andrew and John were introduced to Jesus by JTB; Peter and James by their respective brothers. (I'm not sure about Simon.) When reading each of the 4 above passages, it would also seem to me that Jesus met and spoke to Andrew and John on one day, and called them on a separate day.

Why is all this important?

1. Just as Jesus didn't pick up random peole off the street, so He does not expect anyone to blindly follow or blindly practice their faith. He reaches out to us through those that we know and trust, and presents opportunities for us to encounter Him, to speak with and experience Him. He gives us the chance to go away, to challenge, question, and understand our expereience of Him, and then to choose to respond when He calls.

2. Even though we are called to challenge and question our faith, at the same time, we are also called to follow, even if we don't have all the answers. Andrew and John would have met Jesus, had a chance to hear His teachings, but when Jesus called, they would not have known everything about this man. Their decision to follow Him was a decision based partly on faith.

3. We are sometimes called to play the part of John the Baptist, Andrew, or John and introduce Jesus to others in our lives. However, it is then not up to us to "convince" them to respond to Jesus' call; instead, we often have to let go, and allow them to make up their own mind whether or not to follow Jesus.