Surprise for the Stalkers

Photo Credit: Freeimages.com

He could feel them following him.

He stopped walking and bent over to tie his sandal. Out of the corner of his eye he saw them pause, whistling and looking around at the sky. He chuckled softly to himself. They’d never be good private investigators. He walked on, stopping to take in the view, check the position of the sun, clearly enjoying playing with them. Finally he decided to put them out of their misery.

He turned directly to face them. Cocking his head to the side and smiling, he asked, “What do you want?”

The two were gobsmacked. One’s face grew red and the other stammered a bit before spitting out, “Teacher, where are you staying?”

The red-faced one smacked his companion’s arm. “Where are you staying? Seriously? THAT’S what you open with?”

“Well, YOU weren’t saying anything. You left me there to…”

“Fellas,” the teacher interrupted, laughing. “Come and see.”

Honestly, if I were following someone and they caught me, I can’t say I’d have come up with any better response than they did. When I’m in awe of or intimidated by someone and get to speak to them face to face, I can barely remember my own name. And it’s really nice when that someone is gracious and kind to me, as Jesus was with these two.

Even if they are the most gracious and most kind of all someones, I can’t imagine they would EVER up and invite me to come along. Can you think of anything more unwise, or unsafe, than telling someone you don’t know AT ALL, who is really kind of stalking you, who could potentially be a crazed axe-wielding groupie, to COME WITH YOU AND SEE WHERE YOU ARE STAYING?

Wiser and safer responses could include, “Nope, that’s top secret info,” and “I’ll have my people email your people.” Another option would be to give them an address, part ways, then follow them for a while to see if one of them had an axe in his robe. But Jesus? He invited them to come with him directly to where he was staying.

Jesus is fearless. He laughs in the face of danger. He is love in action.

He knows that if he is going to be God With Us, then arm’s length isn’t going to cut it. He’s about people. He’s about connection. He’s about turning hearts back to the Father. He came to gather up everyone he can, lead them to his Dad, and rejoice as they are adopted as his brothers and sisters.
“Come and see,” he says. And the guys do. They spend the rest of the day with him.

One of those two was Andrew. Do you know what Andrew did first thing after leaving Jesus? He went and found his brother, Simon Peter, and brought him to God With Us.

Except this time, instead of hanging back, Andrew ran back. I’ll bet Peter’s arm was sore from being dragged.

Meeting Jesus can make you want to run back, too.

Not sure? Come and see.  

​#bethelove #heisnotwhatyouthink #loveinaction #stalkersurprise
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