Day 23

 

Here's Your Sign

 

"By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."

 

John 13:35

 

 

The pastor's daughter was getting married and it was a big production. People were coming in from all over the country for the wedding. I was the youth minister at the church and hopelessly single. There was a single girl flying in for the wedding to be a bridesmaid and suddenly everyone was too busy to pick her up. So, guess who they asked to go to the airport?

I was not totally stupid. I know why they were all too busy.  They had already told me about this girl. I was nice enough to play along (okay, desperate enough), so off to the airport I went.

When you are picking someone up at the airport that you have never seen you have to have a sign. You've seen the people standing there with a person's name on poster board. Usually they are limo drivers or desperate guys like I was. So, there I stood holding the sign up and hoping that the girl who bore a striking resemblance to a dachshund wasn't the one I was there for.

The problem is you aren't just holding up a sign with the person's name on it. There is another invisible yet readable sign. In the movies it is Tom Hanks holding up the sign and it has Meg Ryan's name on it. When she reads the invisible sign it reads, "Nice guy, willing to help friends."

My life is not Hollywood and I am not Tom Hanks. The girl does look like Meg Ryan though. (This is so it is all the more painful for me). You see the invisible sign I am holding up says, "Desperate Loser."

It's only a minor setback. Everyone loses a few checkers before they win the game.

We all carry signs. Yours may read, "Business Man" or "Nurse" or "Athlete." Hopefully you are carrying a sign that reads "Christian." Jesus tells us that people should be able to recognize us as his followers by our love for each other. Out of all the signs I had that day at the airport, visible or invisible, that was the most important one for me to be carrying.

 

Upon Further Review:

 

Read John 13:1-35

• What is going on in John 13 when Jesus tells his disciples they will be known for their love for each other?
• How did Jesus demonstrate his love to his disciples just prior to him telling them to love one another?
• What did Jesus know about Peter and yet he still demonstrated his love for him?