A few years ago a group of salesmen went to a regional sales
convention in Chicago. They had assured their wives that they
would be home in plenty of time for Friday night's dinner.
Well, as such things go, one thing led to another.
The sales manager went longer than anticipated and the meeting
ran overtime. Their flights were scheduled to leave out of
Chicago's O'Hare Airport, and they had to race frantically to
the airport. With tickets in hand, they barged through the
terminal to catch their flight back home.
In their rush, with tickets and brief cases, one of these
salesmen inadvertently kicked over a table which held a display
of baskets of apples.
Apples flew everywhere.
Without stopping or looking back, they all managed to reach the
plane in time for their nearly-missed boarding.
All but one.
He paused, took a deep breath, got in touch with his feelings,
and experienced a twinge of compassion for the girl whose apple
stand had been overturned.
He told his buddies to go on without him, waved goodbye, told
one of them to call his wife when they arrived at their home
destination and explain his taking a later flight. Then he
returned to the terminal where the apples were all over the
terminal floor.
He was glad he did. The 16 year old girl was totally blind!
She was softly crying, tears running down her cheeks in
frustration, and at the same time helplessly groping for her
spilled produce as the crowd swirled about her; no one stopping,
and no one to care for her plight.
The salesman knelt on the floor with her, gathered up the
apples, put them into the baskets, and helped set the display up
once more.
As he did this he noticed that many of them had become battered
and bruised; these he set aside in another basket.
When he had finished, he pulled out his wallet and said to the
girl, "Here, please take this $20 for the damage we did. Are
you okay?" She nodded through her tears. He continued on with,
"I hope we didn't spoil your day too badly."
As the salesman started to walk away, the bewildered blind girl
called out to him, "Mister...."
He paused and turned to look back into those blind eyes.
She continued, "Are you Jesus?"
He stopped in mid-stride, and he wondered. Then slowly he made
his way to catch the later flight with that question burning and
bouncing about in his soul:
"Are you Jesus?"
Do people mistake you for Jesus?
That's our destiny, is it not?
To be so much like Jesus that people cannot tell the difference
as we live and interact with a world that is blind to His love,
life and grace.
If we claim to know Him, we should live, walk and act as He
would. Knowing Him is more than simply quoting Scripture and
going to church. It's Actually living the Word as life unfolds
day to day.
You are the apple of His eye even though we, too, have been
bruised by a fall. He stopped what He was doing and picked you
and me up on a hill called Calvary and paid in full for our
damaged fruit.
Let's start living like we are worth the price He paid.
~Author Unknown~
convention in Chicago. They had assured their wives that they
would be home in plenty of time for Friday night's dinner.
Well, as such things go, one thing led to another.
The sales manager went longer than anticipated and the meeting
ran overtime. Their flights were scheduled to leave out of
Chicago's O'Hare Airport, and they had to race frantically to
the airport. With tickets in hand, they barged through the
terminal to catch their flight back home.
In their rush, with tickets and brief cases, one of these
salesmen inadvertently kicked over a table which held a display
of baskets of apples.
Apples flew everywhere.
Without stopping or looking back, they all managed to reach the
plane in time for their nearly-missed boarding.
All but one.
He paused, took a deep breath, got in touch with his feelings,
and experienced a twinge of compassion for the girl whose apple
stand had been overturned.
He told his buddies to go on without him, waved goodbye, told
one of them to call his wife when they arrived at their home
destination and explain his taking a later flight. Then he
returned to the terminal where the apples were all over the
terminal floor.
He was glad he did. The 16 year old girl was totally blind!
She was softly crying, tears running down her cheeks in
frustration, and at the same time helplessly groping for her
spilled produce as the crowd swirled about her; no one stopping,
and no one to care for her plight.
The salesman knelt on the floor with her, gathered up the
apples, put them into the baskets, and helped set the display up
once more.
As he did this he noticed that many of them had become battered
and bruised; these he set aside in another basket.
When he had finished, he pulled out his wallet and said to the
girl, "Here, please take this $20 for the damage we did. Are
you okay?" She nodded through her tears. He continued on with,
"I hope we didn't spoil your day too badly."
As the salesman started to walk away, the bewildered blind girl
called out to him, "Mister...."
He paused and turned to look back into those blind eyes.
She continued, "Are you Jesus?"
He stopped in mid-stride, and he wondered. Then slowly he made
his way to catch the later flight with that question burning and
bouncing about in his soul:
"Are you Jesus?"
Do people mistake you for Jesus?
That's our destiny, is it not?
To be so much like Jesus that people cannot tell the difference
as we live and interact with a world that is blind to His love,
life and grace.
If we claim to know Him, we should live, walk and act as He
would. Knowing Him is more than simply quoting Scripture and
going to church. It's Actually living the Word as life unfolds
day to day.
You are the apple of His eye even though we, too, have been
bruised by a fall. He stopped what He was doing and picked you
and me up on a hill called Calvary and paid in full for our
damaged fruit.
Let's start living like we are worth the price He paid.
~Author Unknown~
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