 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
||
|
Big Tex Today’s Treasure: “When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. He laid His right hand on me, and said, ‘Don't be afraid! I am the First and the Last, and the Living One. I was dead, but look—I am alive forever and ever, and I hold the keys of death and Hades’” (Revelation 1:17-18 Holman Christian Standard Bible). I am the only transplanted Texan in my family. Keith’s family has been here for generations and they were no doubt holding the flag at the victory of San Jacinto. Yes, we still remember the Alamo. Amanda and Melissa were both born in the Lone Star State, so they’ve never been particularly normal either. I’m the only one who has roots across the State line and am reminded of it every time I roll my eyes at the rest of them. Last weekend Keith and I were in the Dallas area for a Life Today taping and got to soak in some extra time with Curt, Amanda, and our beloved eight-month-old Jackson. In God’s perfect planning, when He opened the door for television He made sure that all the extra trips to Dallas for tapings would be well sweetened by having family there. The Jones home is not far from the studio, which usually affords me the shameless opportunity to take my grandson into the studio and introduce him to the audience. They gush just like devoted sisters-in-Christ should. I’d do the same for them. Jackson is at the most precious age. He is vocal and expressive and has just cut his first tooth. He cackles constantly and smiles with his whole face. His big blue eyes and long dark lashes are so irresistible that complete strangers stop and smile at him. It doesn’t hurt matters that he recognizes and appears to love his grandparents. Amanda told me the funniest thing last week. One of the darling young women at her church was babysitting Jackson while she and Curt got a bite to eat. The babysitter was able to get him to go to sleep at bedtime but, unfortunately, after all too brief a shut-eye, he wanted back up. And wanted his mother. Within moments, Life Today came on the station where the TV was already turned and it was one of the days when I was teaching. Amanda’s babysitter said the little guy was absolutely mesmerized by his granny-in-the-box. When Amanda picked me up at the airport for the taping, I hopped in the backseat with Jackson and, delightfully, he couldn’t take his eyes off of me. His expression was so priceless that I’d have given anything to read his mind. I finally came to the conclusion that he was relieved somebody got me out of that box. This weekend the State Fair of Texas was in full florescent roar in Dallas. The weather was gorgeous, so while Keith and I were at the taping, Curt, Amanda, and Jackson headed to the fair. I’d never been, just as Amanda hadn’t, so I could hardly wait to hear from her. “We had a good time, Mom. It was pretty fun but I was disappointed by Big Tex. He wasn’t as big as I thought he was going to be. But, I had the corn dog of my life.” Somehow the thought hit me funny. Of course, the Moores laugh at odd things. Since many of you aren’t Texans, let me see if I can fill you in. Big Tex is a 52-foot-tall statue of a painfully happy man wearing bright red, white, and blue cowboy duds with a big lone star on his shirt. Like many Texans, he’s never gone gray in all the years he’s been on display. His thick black eyebrows look like the kind some of the wealthier women in Texas paint on in their seventies. He wears size 70 cowboy boots and a 75 gallon Stetson. What a lot of fans of Big Tex may not know is that he used to be Santa Claus. Yep, that’s how he first rose to new heights in his career back in 1949. He was drummed up to bolster Christmas sales in Kerens, Texas, but by the next year, he’d lost his novelty. Somebody decided to strip him of jolly wares and dress him up as a Texan. Only in this great state could you go from Santa Claus to a Texan and have people consider it a promotion. I should have known those eye brows were too black to be natural. The truth is, he’s been shaved and dyed. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not dogging Big Tex. Just because he dumped a bag of toys and sold out as someone who would sooner shoot a reindeer and make it into sausage than rig him to a sleigh, he’s a Texas icon. I’d be sorry to see him go. Anyway, whoever’s taken over his old job is doing pretty well for himself. I’m just writing to say that one of these days when you and I get to see Christ face-to-face, it won’t be like Big Tex. We won’t say, “You know, I thought he’d be bigger. Glad I had that corn dog.” Nobody knew Jesus better than the Apostle John. He was part of the inner circle invited on the Mount of Transfiguration and into the Garden of Gethsemane. He was the one who called himself “the disciple Jesus loved” and rested his head affectionately on Christ’s chest. Check out afresh what John had to say about Him when he got a load of Him on the island of Patmos: I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation, kingdom, and perseverance in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because of God’s word and the testimony about Jesus. I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet saying, “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.” I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me. When I turned I saw seven gold lampstands, and among the lampstands was One like the Son of Man, dressed in a long robe, and with a gold sash wrapped around His chest. His head and hair were white like wool—white as snow, His eyes like a fiery flame, His feet like fine bronze fired in a furnace, and His voice like the sound of cascading waters. In His right hand He had seven stars; from His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword; and His face was shining like the sun at midday. When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. He laid His right hand on me, and said, “Don’t be afraid! I am the First and the Last, and the Living One. I was dead, but look—I am alive forever and ever, and I hold the keys of death and Hades.” Fell at His feet like a dead man. Nope. Jesus will not be a disappointment. Not one of us will wish we’d bothered less. Prayed less. Worshipped less. Sacrificed less. Loved less. Instead, we’re liable to think we should have thought a whole lot bigger. I was reminded again what God spoke so clearly to me when I wrote Believing God. If in our pursuit of higher knowledge, God gets smaller, we are being deceived. Go ahead. Live and love like Christ is a whole lot bigger than you’ve been giving Him credit for. And when you finally get to see Him, you’ll still wish you’d brought along a mat to soften the blow of a dead-like drop. Lord Jesus, I rejoice that You will be so much greater, more beautiful, more holy, more righteous, and more glorious than I could ever imagine! Everything on this earth has the potential to disappoint except You. You will blow away every small, unworthy thought of You that ever crossed my mind. Even my highest, most lofty imaginations cannot do justice to who You really are. Help me live and love like You’re a whole lot bigger than I’ve been giving You credit for. In Your holy name, Amen. Beth Moore © 2006 |