I want to cry

I found some old cassette tapes at my uncle's house of my grandfather preaching. I don't remember him since he passed away before I was in 2nd grade. Today was the first time I got to listen because somehow it is impossible to find a tape player today. I used my thumb to wipe away the dust from the little box and put it into the player I borrowed and after rewinding it, I heard a prayer from a heavy southern-accented man who kept saying "Holy Prince of Light." That's what he called Jesus. Sitting down on the floor and opening up my King James version Bible, I followed along with him as he read. It was difficult at first; late 70's recording technology, ambient sounds, coughs, wooden pews creeking with movements, static. Once adjusting to those and blocking them out, the next challenge was to get undistracted from the heavy southern accent and what I will call Baptist 'ah's. "Today... ah! We read... ah! from the book.. ah! of our Lord!" Finally adjusting about 12 minutes later, I rewound the tape and listened to it again.

He tells the congregation to turn their Bibles to "The Gospel of Luke: 19:37." He read the scripture to 48. If you don't know it, it is when Jesus goes to Jerusalem and as He entered into the city he began weeping over people misusing His temple. It had become a place of gambling, sells, prostituting, all sorts of things foul. Jesus was there, His time was then, and He was there, to touch the lives of everyone around but they were unaffected and didn't know Him. Because of the evil in their hearts they were blinded and untouched. If anyone was to have known who He was, it should had been Jerusalem. But they didn't. Knowing this, Jesus simply broke down into tears for their missed opportunity in knowing that for the rest of their lives they would be walking around in a world with a blindfold.

My grandfather brought that passage to me a way I have never heard it before and it got me thinking. 90% of my friends go to or went to Johson Bible College. I can't compete with them when it comes to on-the-spot Bible passage reading from the top of my head. I can't play every instrument known to man. I can't give a lot of answers to those around me who want a lot of Biblical answers or have concerns about the Gospel. But there is something I can do. I can cry. And I want to cry. When I see people doing something I know they shouldn't be doing, I want to be filled with so much love that I too become stirred up and shed tears. I don't want to be a Pharisee sitting on the pew watching the world of sin around him and doing nothing. Our opporunities to help ourselves and those around us should start now because tomorrow can be too late.