A Picture of Grace

I related my dad’s testimony elsewhere, including the life jacket story, which you can read about in an earlier post. I decided to include a photo of the jacket. It’s downstairs by the fireplace. I took the photo and posted it, and then I realized something about the picture was moving me. I didn’t know what it was. Then I saw it.

Take a look at the neck opening on the jacket. Do you see anything?

I didn’t pose the lion there. It was just standing there when I walked over to take the picture. It’s a bookend my mother bought my father. I put it there while I tried to decide what to do with it. It has been there for weeks or months.

Jesus is the Lion of Judah.

The picture is remarkable, and it just happened. It was not planned.

I had a revelation night before last. I thought about the old people I had met at ALF’s, and I thought about the unbearable burden of trying to reach out to them all. It occurred to me that if I tried to help too many people, they would pull me down with them, like drowning people pulling a lifeguard under.

Suddenly, I thought of Peter trying to walk on the water. He only succeeded when he looked at Jesus. He ended up sinking anyway, but when Jesus took his hand, he rose and walked on water again.

Water represents the carnal world. The fish in the Sea of Galilee represent people waiting to be saved.

In the story of Peter’s walk on water, Jesus did what I wished I could do for ALF residents. What he did for Peter was a picture of Jesus reaching down and pulling a person out of the world through salvation.

It makes me realize my dad got his life jacket, and I don’t mean the one in the picture. No wonder God used a life jacket in his miracles! It was the perfect choice.

All those years ago, he knew I would take this picture and show it to people. Think of it.

There’s more. The jacket is bowing. See for yourself.

It’s chilling to think about. God is not being subtle at all.