A dear friend of mine relayed a story to the rest of us in our women’s Bible study.
In Scotland, two men were thatching a roof. One slipped and fell off.
The other heard him cry out but couldn’t reach out fast enough to save his friend. As he inched toward the edge, the second man heard a thud. Then an eerie silence. Fearing the worse, the other man was overcome with a feeling of helplessness. His coworker was gone.
He crawled down from the roof and walked around to the side where his friend has fallen. There the first man stood! Upright, brushing the dirt and thatch from his clothes. He wasn’t even bleeding.
“What happened?” the other man called out in disbelief. “You fell!”
“I know. But just then a herd of sheep sauntered by.” The man pointed to a white lump on the ground behind him.”I fell on that lamb. It took the brunt of my fall. It died to save my life.”
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What a graphic story of redemption. Christ, the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world, sacrifices Himself for each of us. But here is the catch (pardon the pun.) He does that each time we slip and fall from God’s grace…if we let Him.
David said to Gad, “I am in deep distress. Let us fall into the hands of the LORD, for his mercy is great . . .” 2 Samuel 24:2
Are you like the man who fell? Do you feel on the edge, teetering? Fall into the arms of Jesus. He is there to catch you if you cry out to Him.
Perhaps you relate to the other man in the story. Do you feel helpless as you watch a loved one plummet into a bad situation? Pray for Jesus to catch them. They might come away with a few scrapes, but they will be saved.
We all want to “do things” in times of crisis. But the best we can do is fall – fall on Christ who will always be there, arms outstretched to receive us. He is the only one who can take the brunt and save us, or any others we know.
The other man couldn’t help his friend. My guess is he gasped a prayer in a moment of distress.
So can we. Each and every time – for ourselves, or those we love.
I had to have surgery, which meant undergoing anesthesia. For a natural control freak like me, not knowing what is happening is a huge leap in trust. Especially when I went under with an IV in my left hand and woke up with one in my right. It freaked me out because I didn’t recall even getting drowsy after they positioned me on the operating table, and then woke up in a different room realizing time had passed without me being aware of it.
It happened…like it always does, I suppose. Murphy’s Law in motion. With a deep smile, I tuned in to TV program I’d been wanting to watch for weeks and in a split second–nothing.
parent realizes pain has to happen, at times, for their child’s betterment. Such as slapping their hand to keep them from touching a hot stove, or allowing them to wobble, fall and skin their knee as they learn to balance on a two-wheeler. Or living with the consequences of a bad decision.
As water reflects the face, so one’s life reflects the heart. Proverbs 27:19
Outside my living room window is a thick, lush evergreen bush. It gives me a bit of privacy, protection, and is pleasing to the eye. About arm pit high, I can see out if I am sitting on the couch, but actually–my son tested it when I moved in–people cannot readily see me inside.
Yes, I love playing Bunco with friends. We share great recipes, chat, pray, and encourage each other. In case you are not familiar with this parlor game, groups of four each take turns rolling three dice. In the first round, you can keep rolling as long as there is a “one dot” on one of the dice. Each “one” is one point. If not, you pass them to the person on your left so they can try to roll as many ones as they can. If you roll three ones, it is a Bunco. If you roll three of anything else but ones, it is a Baby Bunco. Then it is on to round two, in which each person tries to roll as many twos as they can. Then threes, fours, fives and sixes. Whoever rolls three sixes ends the game. Everyone tallies up their scores. The pot (if there is one) is split between the one with the most Buncos and Baby Buncos, and the one with the most points.
many calculable rolls. The truth is, no one is going to sneak seven or eight dots onto one of the die, or erase the side with one dot on it.
Where Did You Find God Today? 