THE EMPTY CHAIR!

Photo and poem by MRB.

An empty chair sitting in the surf off Galveston Island caught my attention!  

It prompted me to think of an interesting metaphor and write the poem in the photo above. 

Shouldn’t we all be like a chair?……..Waiting, Willing, Wanting to welcome all with open arms and especially Without prejudice, even as Jesus Christ is toward us?  

Like the chair, Jesus is WAITING with open arms for us to come to Him! 

He said, ‘‘Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.’  Matthew 11:28-30.  He is WILLING and WANTING to take our burdens and give us rest!  Why?  

Because as the Apostle Peter says, ‘Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.  
1 Peter 5:7.

And He is WITHOUT PREJUDICE!    

Prejudice, as listed in the New Oxford American Dictionary Thesaurus include: bigotry, bias, partisanship, partiality, intolerance, discrimination, a jaundiced eye, preference, one-sidedness, unfairness, inequality, inequity; racism, racialism, anti-Semitism, chauvinism, sexism, ageism, heterosexism, classism, fattism; US Jim Crowism.

‘For God so loved the world (the whole world and everyone in it!) that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever (that’s anyone) believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.’  John 3:16.  

As the Apostle John wrote about his vision of Heaven in the book of Revelation, ‘After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb.’  Revelation 7:9.

AND, we are called to be conformed to His image! 

‘For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.’  Romans 8:29.

We are also called to: 

‘Love one another: just as I (Jesus) have loved you.’  John 13:34.

‘Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.’  Galatians 6:2.

‘Show hospitality to one another without grumbling.’  1 Peter 4:9.

‘Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.’  Ephesians 4:2.

‘Love our enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.  If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them.  Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back.  Do to others as you would have them do to you.’  Luke 6:27-31.

Keep those arms open like the chair!  

Be WAITING, WILLING, WANTING and WITHOUT PREJUDICE!