John 16:22 (NET) - So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice and no one will take your joy away from you.
I am grateful for every one of God’s blessings.
I am also grateful for the people through whom God blesses me.
Less than a year ago, the father of one of my friends passed away.
Although I never met my friend’s father I have been told that he and I had a great deal in common.
A few weeks ago, my friend offered to give me a collection of books from her father’s personal library that were written by an author that her father and I both appreciated.
Of course, I readily accepted.
When my friend brought the books to me the following day, I was quite surprised.
There were over fifty books from a special edition and every one of them was beautifully bound.
I told my friend I did not feel right accepting such a gift and asked her to reconsider her offer.
These books were obviously special to her father and I felt that she should rightfully keep them in her family.
I also told her that she should at least consider selling them.
My friend carefully explained to me that she knew these books were special to her father.
She added that she wanted me to have them because she knew I would appreciate them in the same way that her father had.
I then accepted them and assured her that I would indeed appreciate them in the same way.
Once I had them organized, I could see that there were certain volumes that her father had read several times.
Some of these titles I had read in the past.
A few I had read more than once and I looked forward to reading them again.
That was the case with the first book I chose to read from this set.
As I began to read this book, the story began to replay itself in my mind.
As I progressed through this book I was reminded how the story would eventually play itself out.
I also knew that, in the end, the main character would die.
With that conclusion, I felt a certain sense of loss.
Of course, this was a work of fiction and that character never actually existed.
He was nothing but an idea concocted in the mind of a skilled author who was blessed with both the creativity to weave a story and the ability to put that story into words that he could share with his readers.
In less than a week, I finished the book and that character died just as he had before.
That reminded me of someone else I read about in another book that I have read many more times.
Someone who did the most miraculous of things.
Someone who had to sacrifice His life.
Someone who had to so in the most horrific of ways.
Someone who had to do so for me.
There were some overwhelming differences between the accounts.
The book I have read many times is the Bible and it is fact not fiction.
That someone is Jesus who is the embodiment of truth.
There is a genuine sadness I experience whenever I read the Bible and the journey of Jesus takes Him ever closer to the cross.
A sadness that culminates when Jesus lays down His very life for the likes of me.
His death, however, is not the end,
Jesus overcame even death itself.
With His resurrection, all the sadness I experience along the way is replaced by complete and utter joy.
Joy for Jesus.
Joy for me.
Because Jesus willingly died in my place, my own death will not be the end.
Rather, it will only be a transition.
The feelings I experience as I read about Jesus in the Bible are genuine.
That is because Jesus is genuine.
The salvation He offers is genuine.
With Jesus there is no such thing as a happy ending simply because there is no ending.
With Jesus there is complete and total joy which will last for eternity!
Blessings,
Jim Pokorny
The Other Brother Jim
http://otherbrotherjim.blogspot.com
I am grateful for every one of God’s blessings.
I am also grateful for the people through whom God blesses me.
Less than a year ago, the father of one of my friends passed away.
Although I never met my friend’s father I have been told that he and I had a great deal in common.
A few weeks ago, my friend offered to give me a collection of books from her father’s personal library that were written by an author that her father and I both appreciated.
Of course, I readily accepted.
When my friend brought the books to me the following day, I was quite surprised.
There were over fifty books from a special edition and every one of them was beautifully bound.
I told my friend I did not feel right accepting such a gift and asked her to reconsider her offer.
These books were obviously special to her father and I felt that she should rightfully keep them in her family.
I also told her that she should at least consider selling them.
My friend carefully explained to me that she knew these books were special to her father.
She added that she wanted me to have them because she knew I would appreciate them in the same way that her father had.
I then accepted them and assured her that I would indeed appreciate them in the same way.
Once I had them organized, I could see that there were certain volumes that her father had read several times.
Some of these titles I had read in the past.
A few I had read more than once and I looked forward to reading them again.
That was the case with the first book I chose to read from this set.
As I began to read this book, the story began to replay itself in my mind.
As I progressed through this book I was reminded how the story would eventually play itself out.
I also knew that, in the end, the main character would die.
With that conclusion, I felt a certain sense of loss.
Of course, this was a work of fiction and that character never actually existed.
He was nothing but an idea concocted in the mind of a skilled author who was blessed with both the creativity to weave a story and the ability to put that story into words that he could share with his readers.
In less than a week, I finished the book and that character died just as he had before.
That reminded me of someone else I read about in another book that I have read many more times.
Someone who did the most miraculous of things.
Someone who had to sacrifice His life.
Someone who had to so in the most horrific of ways.
Someone who had to do so for me.
There were some overwhelming differences between the accounts.
The book I have read many times is the Bible and it is fact not fiction.
That someone is Jesus who is the embodiment of truth.
There is a genuine sadness I experience whenever I read the Bible and the journey of Jesus takes Him ever closer to the cross.
A sadness that culminates when Jesus lays down His very life for the likes of me.
His death, however, is not the end,
Jesus overcame even death itself.
With His resurrection, all the sadness I experience along the way is replaced by complete and utter joy.
Joy for Jesus.
Joy for me.
Because Jesus willingly died in my place, my own death will not be the end.
Rather, it will only be a transition.
The feelings I experience as I read about Jesus in the Bible are genuine.
That is because Jesus is genuine.
The salvation He offers is genuine.
With Jesus there is no such thing as a happy ending simply because there is no ending.
With Jesus there is complete and total joy which will last for eternity!
Blessings,
Jim Pokorny
The Other Brother Jim
http://otherbrotherjim.blogspot.com
