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To
See His Face
Caitlin
Hardy has been on the hearts and minds of many people
over the past couple
of weeks. Thankfully,
Caitlin is recovering very well after enduring a
terrifying experience...
Caitlin
(age 3) and her parents, Scott & Hilary Hardy,
were attending a softball tournament in which
Caitlin’s big sister, Meghan, was participating.
After spending several hours at the ballpark,
Caitlin was still running, laughing, and playing with
her family when suddenly she stopped and was instantly
quiet. Her
father ran over to her and discovered that Caitlin was
choking on something.
Scott, Hilary, and other caring individuals
began working diligently with Caitlin, who was having
tremendous difficulty breathing.
An ambulance was called in, and Caitlin was
rushed to a nearby hospital.
By the time she arrived, she was in distress.
The emergency room doctors and nurses had to
act quickly. They
skillfully and carefully placed a ventilator tube into
Caitlin’s windpipe so that she could breathe.
In the process, they were able to extract the
object on which Caitlin was choking.
Because of the trauma she had endured, however,
Caitlin had to be left on the ventilator for several
days, which meant that
she had to be heavily sedated.
Many,
many prayers were offered to God on Caitlin’s behalf
by caring people all over the U.S.
Two
days later, Caitlin’s doctors stopped the medication
that was keeping her sedated.
They wanted to see how she would do when fully
“awake,” hoping that she would be able to breathe
on her own so that they could remove the ventilator
tube. Very
slowly, over a period of several hours, Caitlin began
to wake up. At
one point, still in a “groggy” state, Caitlin
turned and yawned. Her Daddy went over to her and spoke her name.
Caitlin opened her eyes, reached up her arms,
and began to rub her Daddy’s face.
Caitlin also hugged her mother and played with
her hair. Those
were the signs that her parents had been anxious to
see! Their
baby girl was going to be all right!
It
was the look
of recognition that brought GREAT JOY to
this family – and to many others!
Growing more and more conscious, Caitlin knew
her parents and was able to express her love to them
– and they to her!
The
Bible teaches us that one day JESUS CHRIST will return
to this world... “Behold, He is coming with
clouds, and every eye will see Him” (Revelation
1:7).
Some will experience the look
of recognition when they see His face;
others will be like complete
strangers. Jesus
said, “Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord,
have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons
in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?'
And then I will declare to them, 'I
never knew you;
depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'”
(Matthew 7:22-23).
Those who will experience the “look
of recognition” – and the GREAT JOY that
follows – are those who are in a right relationship
with Him.
Sin
separates us from God (Isaiah 59:1-2).
But God loved us so much that He gave His Son
Jesus to die for our sins so that we could be
reconciled to Him and become His children (2
Corinthians 5:17-21).
Jesus said that those who DO the will of God
are a part of His family (Matthew 12:50).
We are "added" to His
family when we by faith
in Christ (Acts 16:30-31), repent
of our sins (Acts 17:30-31), confess
Jesus before men (Romans 10:9-10), and are “born
again” in baptism
(immersion) for the forgiveness of our sins (Acts
2:38).
THEN
as "children" of God, we have hope of
one day seeing Jesus with that
“look of recognition” and the
realization of the reward for following Him faithfully
(1 John 3:1-3).
In
the words of Charles H. Gabriel…
When
by His grace I shall look on His face, That will be
glory, be glory for me!
Will
He recognize YOU?
David
A. Sargent, Minister
Church of Christ at Creekwood
1901 Schillinger Rd. S.
Mobile, Alabama 36695
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