The Right MovesSample

The Snowball Effect

When we move in the right direction, we bring peace and change lives. The ball was set rolling in a quick succession of events that started with John the Baptist introducing Jesus as the Lamb of God. John’s whole life was spent pointing out Jesus as the Promised One, the Messiah, and the Son of God: and himself as the one whose only mission in life was to make Him known to the world for whom He was. He is the only person I know who was so content to see someone else increase while he himself decreased!

Straightaway, two of his disciples, intrigued by the description and drawn by Jesus’ magnetic presence, follow Him to see where He stays. Then Andrew is compelled to share this life-changing encounter with his brother, Simon, and advises him to drop his fishing nets, wash his hands with Dettol, clean up, and come and meet Someone very special. It does not end there. On the next day, Jesus Himself goes to find Philip, and he in turn finds his friend Nathaniel who has been lounging under a fig tree. Nathaniel is skeptical at first- can anything good come out of Nazareth, leave alone the Messiah? His doubts vanish like the morning mist when he comes face to face with Jesus. These individual moves and many others snowballed into a huge avalanche of changed lives which left footprints for future generations too.

The grieving women who followed Jesus to His crucifixion stood weeping and wailing, unable to help throughout His harrowing experience. Their hearts melted with sorrow and despair, but ultimately they traced their steps homeward. What could they do? But Mary Magdalene decided on a course of action that took her to the tomb in the wee hours of the morning, braving the dark and the intimidating presence of the guards and the massive stone blocking the entrance to the tomb. She seemingly moved in the wrong direction, to the wrong place, at an inappropriate time, but her reward was being the first to behold the resurrected Savior!

Now consider Zacchaeus. His ascent through the foliage of a sycamore tree seemed like it would get him nowhere, stuck as he was halfway up the tree, yet that was a brilliant move that brought him in direct contact with the Messiah Himself, and he found himself looking into those piercing eyes which revealed his very soul. What seemed like the end of the road was actually the beginning of a new life for him.

When you are out on a limb, remember that Jesus is standing below to catch you if you fall.