Hajja Salesjana January-March 2021

H AJJA S ALESJANA 17 Are you Jesus? A few years ago a group of salesmen went to a regional sales convention in Paris. They had assured their wives that they would be home in plenty of time for Friday night's dinner. In their rush to catch the plane home and with tickets and briefcases, one of these salesmen inadvertently kicked over a table which held a display of apples. Apples flew everywhere. Without stopping or looking back, they all managed to reach the plane in time for their nearly-missed boarding... All but one!!! He paused, took a deep breath, got in touch with his feelings and experienced a twinge of compassion for the girl whose apple stand had been overturned. He told his buddies to go on without him, waved good-bye, told one of them to call his wife when they arrived at their home destination and explain his taking a later flight. Then he returned to the terminal where the apples were all over the terminal floor. He was glad he did. The 16-year-old girl was totally blind! She was softly crying, tears running down her cheeks in frustration, and at the same time helplessly groping for her spilled produce as the crowd swirled about her; no one stopping and no one to care for her plight. The salesman knelt on the floor with her, gathered up the apples, put them back on the table and helped organize her display. As he did this, he noticed that many of them had become battered and bruised; these he set aside in another basket. When he had finished, he pulled out his wallet and said to the girl, "Here, please take this € 50 for the damage we did. Are you okay?" She nodded through her tears. He continued on with, "I hope we didn't spoil your day too badly." As the salesman started to walk away, the bewildered blind girl called out to him, "Mister...." He paused and turned to look back into those blind eyes. She continued, "Are you Jesus?" He stopped in mid-stride and he wondered... He gently went back and said, "No, I am nothing like Jesus - He is good, kind, caring, loving and would never have bumped into your display in the first place." The girl gently nodded: "I only asked because I prayed for Jesus to help me gather the apples and you were ever so kind and caring. He sent you to help me. Thank you for hearing Jesus, Mister and came to assist me!" Then slowly he made his way to catch the later flight with that question burning and bouncing about in his soul: "Are you Jesus?" Do people mistake you for Jesus?... That's our destiny, is it not? To be so much like Jesus that people cannot tell the difference as we live and interact with a world that is blind to His love, life, mercy and grace. If we claim to know Him, we should live, walk and act as He would. Knowing Him is more than simply quoting Scripture and going to church. It's actually living the Word as life unfolds day by day . You are the apple of His eyes even though you too, have been bruised by a fall or two. He stopped what He was doing and picked up you and me on a hill called Calvary and paid in full for our damaged fruit. Think about that for a while and strive to make a difference for the better by being more like Him in your daily life. photo by Justus Menke from www.unsplash.com Top Photo: photo by Natalie Grainger www.unsplash.com