I had been in my car, stuck in bumper to bumper traffic for
more than an hour. I was sweating in the heat. The air conditioner had not been
working for a while. I was starting to get frustrated. Where all this traffic came
from had me puzzled. Maybe there was an
accident further up the road. I prayed that it had not been serious but knew it
was probably going to be bad judging by all the cars sitting bumper to bumper
on the freeway. Some cars had pulled to the side and seemed to have given up
hope of getting anywhere. Every few
minutes I would start the car and move forward a few inches hoping I would see
the end of the traffic. I turned on the radio to see if there was any
information on what had happened and how to get around it. The announcer was
hopeless and did not help in the least. There was something happening but
nothing the announcer knew about. Blah,
Blah, Blah…..lots of traffic…..Blah, Blah, Blah…..no idea what is causing it….Blah,
Blah, Blah…..police are on the way. How on earth where the police going to get
through this traffic jam was beyond me.
People started running past my car. At first I thought we
were being attacked from behind and everyone was running to get clear. I taking
a closer look I realised that the people were not running away but rather running
towards something. They seemed strangely happy. I could only assume it was not
an accident as I had assumed. Maybe some famous person had blocked the road.
One thing was for sure we were no longer going anywhere. Traffic had come to a
stop. The inches I enjoyed were now completely gone with abandoned cars all
over the freeway. After a few minutes I
realised that I could not miss out. I
was as curious as anyone could be.
I reached for the door handle and opened the door almost
hitting a person running past in excitement to get to whatever he was trying to
get to. He managed to veer to the side and avoid being knocked over by the
door. After making sure the doors were locked, I started walking down the road
in the same direction to where everyone else was heading. It was a strange
feeling following the masses without knowing where I was going. The excitement
was building for me even though I had no idea what was happening. I started to
trot forward at a slightly quicker pace trying to match those around me.
I heard someone shout a name. It sounded like Jesus. I had
heard stories about him. He had changed people’s lives in dramatic ways. He had
healed some sick people. A blind guy could see, a lame person had started
walking. There was a rumor that he had raised someone from the dead. It was
ridiculous. No human could do that. He must be a magician of some kind.
In front of me I could see where the crowds had gathered. It
was by the lake on the side of the freeway. The bank at the edge of the lake
was covered in people watching someone in the water. I could tell it was the Jesus
I had heard about. There was a long snake of people heading towards Jesus. The
people were up to their knees in water. As they got to Jesus he would have a
few words with him and then he would baptize them under water. The people would
come out smiling and happy like all the cares of the world had been lifted from
their shoulders. It was amazing to see what was going on. I knew that there was
something special about Jesus. I knew that I would be faced with a choice.
You have a choice. Jesus had come to seek and save the lost.
He called people to repent and be baptized. He called us to believe and be baptized.
Do you believe? Have you repented? Have you been baptized? If you were standing
on the banks of the Jordan what choice would you make if you saw Jesus in the
water. You can make that choice now. Find a church with a good Pastor. Speak to
him, Confess, believe and get Baptised. There is no time like the present.
After all Jesus got Baptised and said we should is that not enough reason.
Cheers
Greg
Hay