Crosswalk - Live It: Faces in the Crowd, November 3, 2004

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Live It!   Wednesday, November 3, 2004 Welcome to the Live It! newsletter, a free newsletter from Crosswalk.com, the world's largest Christian website. We honor your privacy and time. If this newsletter no longer meets your needs, please use the unsubscribe link at the bottom of this newsletter and you will be removed immediately. Sponsored by: Affordable Biblical Healthcare Christian Writers Guild: Free Starter Kit Jesus Film - Celebrating 25 Years Christians are being persecuted NOW! CBD Christmas Shop Member Sites ChristianJobs.com Crosswalk.com Oneplace.com Crossguide.com Crosscards.com SermonSearch.com  Featured Article Faces in the Crowd Max Lucado It happened too fast. One minute Barabbas was in his cell on death row playing tic-tac-toe on the dirt walls, and the next he was outside squinting his eyes at the bright sun. "You're free to go." Barabbas scratches his beard. "What?" "You're free. They took the Nazarene instead of you." Barabbas has often been compared to humanity, and rightly so. In many ways he stands for us: a prisoner who was freed because someone he had never seen took his place. As far as we know, he took his sudden freedom for what it was, an undeserved gift. Someone tossed him a life preserver and he grabbed it, no questions asked. You couldn't imagine him pulling some of our stunts. We take our free gift and try to earn it or diagnose it or pay for it instead of simply saying "thank you" and accepting it. Why do we do that? The only reason I can figure is pride. To accept grace means to accept its necessity, and most folks don't like to do that. To accept grace also means that one realizes his despair, and most people aren't too keen on doing that either. Barabbas, though, knew better. Maybe he didn't understand mercy and surely he didn't deserve it, but he wasn't about to refuse it. We might do well to realize that our plight isn't too different than that of Barabbas's. We, too, are prisoners with no chance for appeal. But why some prefer to stay in prison while the cell door has been unlocked is a mystery worth pondering.  More Faith Articles  Send an Ecard Send this Card Send this Card Send this Card If you enjoyed this newsletter, forward it on to a friend. If this message was forwarded to you from a friend, signup for you own subscription here.

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