Write-off
Theme of the Week: Believe the Best
Wednesday, January 12, 2005
 1 of 1
Key Bible Verse: No one was with me. Everyone had abandoned me. I hope it will not be counted against them (
2 Timothy 4:16). Bonus Reading: Isaiah 42:1-7
Imagine that you were Jesus after your resurrection facing your disciples who'd deserted you. You'd poured your life into them. Now you're back to see them before you go to heaven. If I were in His position, I'd have been tempted to say something like this:
"Yeah, it's Jesus and I'm here for one reason: to tell you that you're all out of the game. Off the team. Through with the program. Good-bye. I poured my life into you guys. I fed the five thousand, healed the sick, brought dead people to life, told you I'd die, told you I'd come back—and what was your response? You people are pathetic.
"Okay, Thomas, once and for all, why don't you come up here and feel my hands. Thomas, you're a negative guy. You're an administrator, that's what you are. You've been griping and complaining since we started. You always see the problems.
"Peter, what are you laughing about over there? Good night! You're impetuous, you're a loud mouth, you denied me three times in front of a little girl, and you're a coward. You're fired, Peter.
"And you're out, Thomas.
"In fact, you're all out!
That's what I would have wanted to say. [continued 1/13]
— Ron and Matt Jenson in Fathers and Sons
My Response: Who may I have been too quick to write off?
Thought to Apply: The men who are lifting the world upward and onward are those who encourage more than criticize. —ELISABETH HARRISON (writer)
Adapted from Fathers and Sons (Broadman & Holman, 1998) by permission.
Copyright © 2005 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine. Click here for reprint information on Men of Integrity. 1 of 1
Lord, you received me when I was down and out. Help me to accept others in the same spirit.
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