A couple of days ago my daughter-in-law went into the hospital to have her second baby boy.
Finally.
It seemed like she'd been pregnant for forever.
We thought she'd deliver the baby some time in the evening It's a long drive from Estes to Longmont, so I scheduled my own doctor appointment for that afternoon. Why not kill two birds with one stone?
But around 2:30 the delivery nurses started saying that the baby would come very soon, probably in about an hour.
Rats! I was going to miss the delivery due to my appointment.
But God was gracious. I did my appointment, raced back to the hospital in time to see little Jace come into the world.
What a joy to witness a birth, especially my own grandson's.
Then I got to thinking, why was it so important for me to be there, right there, close?
To touch, smell, hear, hold.
To see it for myself, instead of just receiving a report of the baby's birth.
I thought about other things that have happened throughout history.
Even recently.
The news media interviews people who have been at the scene of a crime, or a fire, or a terrorist attack.
Or it could be something joyful, like a celebrity wedding, or the signing of a treaty.
Why are the eyewitnesses so important?
Because they have credibility.
They didn't just hear about it.
They were there.
We believe them, more than someone who merely reports other people's observations.
And if lots of people witnessed the same thing, we really believe them.
If Jace's older brother, in a moment of caprice ever tried to tell his little brother, "You aren't Mom's real baby. You were switched at birth."
I could say, "Nope, I was there, Jace. I saw you as you were emerging from your mother's body."
We humans have a great passion for knowing the truth. Perhaps that's why we yearn to be "there" at the moment something of great importance happens. To be able to attest to it.
"Yes, it really happened. I know, because I was there and I saw it."
The Apostle John put it this way in his first epistle to Believers when stating that he had credibility concerning his relationship with Jesus Christ:
"That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched --this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us." (1st John 1:1-3 NIV Bible)
Some day we will be real eyewitnesses.
Finally.
It seemed like she'd been pregnant for forever.
We thought she'd deliver the baby some time in the evening It's a long drive from Estes to Longmont, so I scheduled my own doctor appointment for that afternoon. Why not kill two birds with one stone?
But around 2:30 the delivery nurses started saying that the baby would come very soon, probably in about an hour.
Rats! I was going to miss the delivery due to my appointment.
But God was gracious. I did my appointment, raced back to the hospital in time to see little Jace come into the world.
What a joy to witness a birth, especially my own grandson's.
Then I got to thinking, why was it so important for me to be there, right there, close?
To touch, smell, hear, hold.
To see it for myself, instead of just receiving a report of the baby's birth.
I thought about other things that have happened throughout history.
Even recently.
The news media interviews people who have been at the scene of a crime, or a fire, or a terrorist attack.
Or it could be something joyful, like a celebrity wedding, or the signing of a treaty.
Why are the eyewitnesses so important?
Because they have credibility.
They didn't just hear about it.
They were there.
We believe them, more than someone who merely reports other people's observations.
And if lots of people witnessed the same thing, we really believe them.
If Jace's older brother, in a moment of caprice ever tried to tell his little brother, "You aren't Mom's real baby. You were switched at birth."
I could say, "Nope, I was there, Jace. I saw you as you were emerging from your mother's body."
We humans have a great passion for knowing the truth. Perhaps that's why we yearn to be "there" at the moment something of great importance happens. To be able to attest to it.
"Yes, it really happened. I know, because I was there and I saw it."
The Apostle John put it this way in his first epistle to Believers when stating that he had credibility concerning his relationship with Jesus Christ:
"That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched --this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us." (1st John 1:1-3 NIV Bible)
Some day we will be real eyewitnesses.
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