Devotions
Are You Aware,...
It was May, 1977, and the flight was almost full as I eased into my short-row aisle seat on a trip out of DFW to Louisville, Kentucky. Seated next to me, by the window, was a middle-aged gentleman in a white knit shirt and a blue sport coat. Shortly after we were airborne, he struck up a conversation, asking me where I was headed and what type of work I did.
I responded by telling him I worked for a horse racing organization (Quarter Racing Owners of America) and was headed for a horse sale in Kentucky. Somehow, our lengthy conversation got around to church and religion, and that's when he popped the big question to me:
"Are you aware of how much God really loves you?" His piercing blue eyes left little doubt of the sincerity of his statement, which caused me to pause and ponder. My first thoughts were to share my experience of being saved as a teenager, leaving Jesus in east Texas when I went off to college and then coming back to Him as a 34-year-old backslider, along with some deep theology I had accumulated over the past couple of years. Somehow, none of that really fit. Finally, I responded, "Probably not."
His smile seemed to say, "I appreciate your honesty;" then he said, "I'm not going to preach to you, but I do want to share a passage of scripture for you to think about." At that moment, I realized we had not only landed, but were at the gate; most everyone on board was jumping to their feet to grab their overhead baggage and get off the plane.
"It's in the eighth chapter of Romans, verses 38 and 39," said my new friend in almost a whisper just about the noise and commotion around us. He stayed seated while I hurried down the aisle and off the plane to meet someone waiting to whisk me off to a close appointment.
There really wasn't time for him to quote the Word to me, and since I never carried a Bible with me in those days, I had to wait until I was in the hotel room that night to pull out the Apostle Paul's quote in the Gideon edition. It read: "For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
For the life of me, I can't remember the man's name, nor what kind of work he did; it seemed like we simply talked about me. Reflecting back on it many times since, I've come to the conclusion that he was a plant - simply an angel that was sent to deliver a message that was very important to me and many, many other people in our individual lives.
How wonderful God is, even in the midst of all our busyness, our mistakes, and our blown turns_He loves each of us so very much!
Scripture: But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8