Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” John 1:50
Palatine, Illinois teacher and mother, Natalie Meilinger, likes to keep a close eye on her children. To make that task easier, she put a video baby monitor into the room of her 3-month-old son, Jack.
The monitor works well, giving a clear picture of all that is happening in the nursery. Occasionally, the monitor can work almost too well. As of last Sunday, the second channel of the baby-watching device has been showing black-and-white video from the space shuttle Atlantis. That’s right. Natalie is getting video from outer space.
NASA says they’re sure the video isn’t being beamed directly into the child’s bedroom. The company that makes the monitor says they’ve never heard of anything like this happening before. Natalie says she and her husband have become addicted to the ongoing scenes coming to them from above. She says they keep “waiting to see what’s next.”
Natalie’s last sentence, “waiting to see what’s next,” reminded me of a remark made by one of my Sunday School children years ago. The boy was attending class as a four-year-old and was mesmerized by the stories his teacher told him. In spring, after the teacher made it through Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection, the student came up to her after class and said, “Teacher, I really love God. You just never know what He’s going to do next.”
Out of the mouths of babes. Truly, we are blessed to have a God who does the unexpected. His promise of salvation to Adam and Eve after they sinned was unexpected. For Him to take the complaining Children of Israel from slavery and into the Promised Land was unexpected, too. That God would send His Son into this world to keep the commandments, say “no” to Satan’s temptations, and give His life as a ransom for our redemption is beyond anyone’s comprehension. If I read the words of the Apostle John correctly, he stood in similar awe of God’s grace when he wrote, “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God.”
The sacrifice of the Savior is something worth seeing, and something worth believing in. In a world where baby monitors pick up space TV and where anything can happen, it’s a blessed thing to have a Lord who, by grace alone, and quite unexpectedly, loves us.
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord Jesus, in a world that is filled with the strange and sad, the hurting and horrific, Your undeserved care and ongoing compassion is something I can count on. This day, no matter what happens, may I look to You for guidance and direction. This I pray in Your name, Amen.
Today's Bible Readings: Proverbs 25-26 Acts 4:23-37
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