I consider myself a $2 historian. Probably because most of what I have read on history has come from books from op-shops. I have always considered Elizabeth I (1533-1603) to be the reason that we have many of the freedoms we enjoy today. But when one of my good friends dismissed her as a mere ‘person of interest in his Junior High history class,’ I should have been warned of things to come. One day I asked a group of teenagers if they had heard of Frank Sinatra. Much to my shock and amazement, they all said, ‘No.’ That was the day I had to accept that no matter how famous a person may become, they can be forgotten. Imagine names like: Churchill, Einstein, JFK, disappearing from history. Of course, empires come, and empires go. Countless lives have been sacrificed in the names of Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan, Mao, Hitler, Stalin, etc. ‘Who to follow?’ or ‘Who to serve?’ were not always questions asked without a predetermined answer—it was kill, or be killed. History has a way of forgetting that inconvenience—after-all, “History is always written by the winners.” I have spent most of my life serving the adopted son of a poor tradesman. Common sense behooves one to ask why. The reason is NOT that ‘No other child on earth has grown up to have the impact of this boy from Nazareth’ (though that is true beyond contradiction), it is instead HOW he has impacted the world. He exposed the very heart of God (Jn.1:18). One willing to take our punishment of sin and death upon Himself (Rom.5:8). One longing for his lost children to repent and come home to forgiveness and joy (Lk.15:11-32). One longing to bless the building of His church by giving when they ask, revealing when they seek, and opening when they knock (Mt.7:7-8). Jesus was not a revolutionary rounding up an army to overthrow the latest government. He was God in the flesh calling us to follow him—The Prince of peace! The King of kings and Lord of lords—‘His kingdom will never end’ (Lk.1:33). In 33 years he changed the world and will always be doing so. Follow him!
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