One morning on the drive to school, I was riding my son Bo pretty hard about a couple of his grades. He listened. He did not argue. As he was getting out of the car, he turned with tears in his eyes and said, "I was just trying to show you how much they have come up."
He was right. There was real improvement. I had been judging him by his potential without honoring the road he was actually walking.
I drove home in silence. By the time I pulled in the driveway, I had pictured myself being dropped off at school by Jesus instead. I imagined Him saying, "Mark, you took some shots yesterday. Those might still sting for a second. But here you are, alive and pressing forward. I believe in you."
That is what Jesus did when He taught. He did not chip away at people. He told them the truth in a way that lifted them off the ground. The crowds were astonished, the Gospel says, because He taught as one having authority. I had always read that as power over the room. But sitting in my driveway, I thought maybe it was power to lift the room. Power that walked past failure and addressed the part of a person already trying.
Jesus taught me in the school drop off line. His words might sit on your shelf for a decade and then ambush you in your car, in your kitchen, or in the small humiliation of being corrected by your own kid.
That is the offer of this collection. A reminder that something Jesus taught lands in every life. How to love. How to defend. How to parent.
He taught me.
…the people were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority… — Matthew 7:28-29 (NKJV)
One morning on the drive to school, I was riding my son Bo pretty hard about a couple of his grades. He listened. He did not argue. As he was getting out of the car, he turned with tears in his eyes and said, "I was just trying to show you how much they have come up."
He was right. There was real improvement. I had been judging him by his potential without honoring the road he was actually walking.
I drove home in silence. By the time I pulled in the driveway, I had pictured myself being dropped off at school by Jesus instead. I imagined Him saying, "Mark, you took some shots yesterday. Those might still sting for a second. But here you are, alive and pressing forward. I believe in you."
That is what Jesus did when He taught. He did not chip away at people. He told them the truth in a way that lifted them off the ground. The crowds were astonished, the Gospel says, because He taught as one having authority. I had always read that as power over the room. But sitting in my driveway, I thought maybe it was power to lift the room. Power that walked past failure and addressed the part of a person already trying.
Jesus taught me in the school drop off line. His words might sit on your shelf for a decade and then ambush you in your car, in your kitchen, or in the small humiliation of being corrected by your own kid.
That is the offer of this collection. A reminder that something Jesus taught lands in every life. How to love. How to defend. How to parent.
He taught me.
…the people were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority… — Matthew 7:28-29 (NKJV)
