My best friend growing up was a tad bit crazy. He about caught his house on fire by using the microwave as a timer, so it was cooking with nothing inside. Apparently, that’s a problem and why they created the timer function. He sited in a rifle inside his house and used about a dozen yearbooks and other hardback books to stop the bullet (barely). After breaking his hand, he sawed his own cast off with a steak knife. He about blew his hand off packing cap-gun caps together to make his own bullet.
We had LOTS of fun together!!!! LOL
But one time, he did something that left a different lasting memory. His dog had a tendency to get out of the yard and we would have to chase it around the neighborhood. Well, one summer day, the gate was left open and his lab was making a run for it. The dog had stopped running just outside the gate to sniff the surroundings as he yelled incessantly for him to stop.
Heath had managed to scoop a rock and with a major league windup and without thinking, he hurled the rock in his best friend’s direction, striking the dog directly on his hip. With a YELP YELP YELP, the dog stopped running, and Heath was immediately regretful of his thoughtless action.
The dog healed, mostly, but had a bit of a limp for the rest of its life. And he NEVER EVER EVER even thought about running out of the gate again! The gate could be left wide open, and he would just stand there looking out like he remembered what happened the last time and wasn’t about to endure that again!
In the book of Genesis, there’s a story about a man who ended up with a limp just like my best friend’s dog. Chapter 32 tells about Jacob “wrestling with God” and in this encounter, Jacob ends up scarred for life, but in a good way.
Jacob had wronged his brother, lied to his dad, and created a family feud. He was born (and named) a “heel grabber,” a cheat as he was grabbing his twin brother’s heel during birth!
Now, as a grown man, with a family, trying to figure out his future and the life that would worthwhile, he sought God alone one night. In this midnight struggle, Jacob found a purpose. It left him physically changed (walking with a limp for the rest of his life) but it left him with a new identity and a legacy that would last for eternity!
Here’s the rub for me and what I hope you find compelling tonight. It occurs to me that we all have two choices:
1. Let the world change you, break you, and leave you scarred for life, afraid to even go outside ending with your last breath.
2. Let God change you and repurpose your life to one with the most exciting, fulfilling, and joyful existence, leaving a legacy of eternal significance.
So, what’s it going to be: Finish life with a limp and a legacy or just a limp with your last breath? (Proverbs 8:35 – He who finds God, finds life!)
#LegacyWithALimp
#RockScars
#RestorationOfChristsKingdom
#RestoringWholenessOfLife
Brett
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