Just some early morning thoughts from me to you…
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.”
John 3: 16-17 (NIV)
I had been here before.
It had been awhile since I remember having had one of those moments of feeling as though I had been somewhere before, or was going through some event or circumstance again which was very familiar.
But it happened to me the other day. Deja vu. For real.
I was returning from the middle of the state where I had spent the day watching our two granddaughters compete in a United States Pony Club Show Jumping Rally. As I traveled home along one of the connector highways through some of our small beautiful Florida towns, the road began to curve to the left and up a slight hill approaching a small commercial building on the right side of the road. And then it hit me as if it was yesterday.
It was a moment during the first years of our marriage driving through a similar small town in North Carolina on our way to visit dear friends in Lynchburg, Virginia. All of a sudden, the road curved to the left and up a slight hill approaching a small commercial building on the right side of the road.
The building housed a Cannon towel factory outlet. We knew that these outlets usually carried brand new “seconds”—having a slight imperfection which was hardly ever noticeable. Having been married for less than two years, we were always looking for a bargain in supplies such as towels and washcloths, and so we pulled in to see what, if anything, we might need and could afford.
The first thing we saw was a table piled high with brand new towels (“seconds”) of all sorts of shapes and sizes—bath, hand, wash clothes, as well as bath mats and other similar items. The next thing our eyes fell upon was a sign on that table which said “7 pounds for $1.”
We walked out of that store with about thirty pounds of much-needed towels. Four dollars! It was an exciting moment for a fairly newly married couple—a moment which we never forgot. And a moment I relived just the other day.
I couldn’t keep the excitement of the moment to myself and called my bride, of 46 years, Lynda, to tell her what I had just experienced.
And then these words flowed from my lips—
“I wish I could do it all again with you.” The tears began to flow, and then Lynda, through her own tears said the same thing back to me. “I wish I could do it all again with you, too.”
I took a moment to gather my emotions, now having passed the spot where the road curved to the left and up a slight hill, and repeated a similar phrase—
“I would do this all over again with you, but this time I would try my best to make fewer mistakes.”
She understood, smiled through the phone, but along with God had already forgiven me.
Here’s another deja vu moment for all of us.
Jesus is now sitting at the right hand of God His Father talking about us in glowing terms to His Dad. He doesn’t have to come to earth again—to bear the agony of the cross, and the exhilarating hope of the resurrection to life leaving an empty tomb.
It is finished.
Because of what He did for those of us who claim Him as our Savior and Lord—we are forgiven and have direct access to the Father and the eternal assurance of a place in heaven with them.
I have a feeling though, that Jesus Christ loves you and me so much, and certainly my bride of the Cannon towel factory outlet—that if it was necessary—He’d come and do it all over again. Just for you. Just for me. And especially for Lynda.
It was a deja vu moment for me. With my bride. With our Christ.
A couple of moments to embrace, don’t you think?
In His Name—Scott
Copyright 2014. Scott L. Whitaker. All rights reserved.
