Jacob's Well

It was a typical blistering Saturday afternoon in the middle of August in Tempe, Arizona and Bobby was making his way down a rural stretch of road that was void of any buildings for over 50 miles. Bobby had decided to go out for a ride on his new Honda Motard motorcycle and was planning on enjoying a few hours of wind and road.

Fifteen minutes into the ride, Bobby noticed another biker parked on the side of the road. It looked like the guy was having some sort of trouble, so Bobby stopped and asked the guy if he needed any help.

After over an hour working on the Harley in the 115 degree heat, Bobby eventually helped the guy get his bike working well enough to ride. Bobby insisted that he'd follow the guy home (45 miles from the current location) to make sure he made it back without any difficulty.

Before the guy on the Harley turned down the street toward his house, he waved Bobby over and handed him his business card. Bobby pulled out his wallet and did the same. Each gave the other a silent wave and off they went in separate directions. Bobby never even considered the fact that he had gone out of his way. He was in the mindset that if a fellow biker needed help, then he would help. It was just an unwritten rule of the road.

* * *

What this story doesn't tell you is that the guy on the Harley was actually the CEO of the same company that Bobby worked for. It wasn't until Bobby got home and cleaned out his pockets that he read the business card. He nearly choked on his Coke when he read the title... "CEO".

After reading the business card, Bobby's shock must have closely resembled the Samaritan women who spoke with Jesus at Jacob's Well in John 4. Here Jesus tells her that He knows who she is, the number of husbands that she's had, and that He is the Christ. I can't help but try and picture the look that must have been on the woman's face when she heard those words. I'm sure you could have heard a pin drop.

The woman said, "I know that Messiah" (called Christ) "is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us."

Then Jesus declared, "I who speak to you am he."

John 4:25-26

The point is that we never really know who we are going to meet throughout our journey in life. Many people that we meet, might only be placed in our lives for a short time. Others might be with us for many years. However, one thing is for certain...we will all see Christ one day and stand before Him to give account.

As you walk down this road in life, allow others see Christ in you so that you can see (and enjoy) the surprise on their face as you remain obedient to God and emulate the footsteps of Christ.

God bless you. And this is for His Glory!

The Journey

The record of the oldest person in the world to receive a college diploma is Nola Ochs. She received her Bachelor's degree in general studies and history from the Fort Hays State University, which is in the state of Kansas. It was a wonderful moment when the Governor Kathleen Sebelius awarded the degree to Nola Ochs and the crowd of 2176 graduates broke into a standing ovation at her achievement, which included Nola Ochs' own granddaughter Alexandra Ochs (the 21 year old graduated with her) . The ovation was actually against the rule as according to the rule no one would applaud or create any sort of mayhem in the graduation hall until the entire class was awarded the degrees. Nola Ochs was 95 years old when she received her Bachelor's degree on May 14th 2007. But that does not seem to be the end of her educational career. If things go right, she is even planning to pursue a Master's degree.

We've all had something that was really important for us to complete. Can you remember the last time that you wanted to achieve something and put everything you had into it? It might have been studying for a degree, training for a marathon, working toward a promotion, building something by hand, etc.

Whatever it might have been - you put everything you had into it. Perhaps it even consumed your daily thoughts and you even scheduled activities around it.

Yeah, we've all been there at least once.

That's the journey...and the journey is the part that we remember the most. Because once we achieve our goal (the destination), we feel relieved and proud of our accomplishment. Ultimately, it's the journey that molds us into the person that we needed to be in order to achieve our goal.

Think about how this translates in our relationship with Jesus. What if we put everything we had into following and obeying His word? How do you think you would change as a person? If we are going to be consumed with something, let's get consumed with the Holy Spirit. It's only then that we start to appreciate the challenges and difficulty of our journey. Then the Lord will reward us when we reach our final destination.

Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life^"will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?
Mark 8:34-36

Each person has their own unique journey through life and not all of us are blessed with longevity. So, the question is...are we doing the things that we need to do now, in order to reach our final destination?

God bless you. And this is for His Glory!