Bruised Apples

A few years ago a group of salesmen went to
a regional sales convention in Chicago.
They had assured their wives that they
would be home in plenty of time for Friday
night's dinner.

Well, as such things go, one thing led to
another.

The sales manager went longer than anticipated
and the meeting ran overtime. Their flights
were scheduled to leave out of Chicago's
O'Hare Airport, and they had to race
frantically to the airport. With tickets in
hand, they barged through the terminal
to catch their flight back home.

In their rush, with tickets and brief cases,
one of these salesmen inadvertently kicked
over a table which held a display of baskets
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
applestand had been overturned.

He told his buddies to go on without him,
waved goodbye, told one of them to call
his wife when they arrived at their home
destination and explain his taking a later
flight. Then here turned 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 into the
baskets, and helped set the display up
once more.

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 $20 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. 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 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 to day.

You are the apple of His eye even though
we, too, have been bruised by a fall.
He stopped what He was doing and picked
you and me up on a hill called Calvary
and paid in full for our damaged fruit.

Let's start living like we are worth the price
He paid.

~Author Unknown~

from Mountain Wings
#7211 Wings Over The Mountains of Life



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