In 1998, before basic nouns were preceded by the vowels i and e (iPhone, iBooks, email, ebooks), I picked up a hard cover book in an actual book store. I’d been searching for a new devotional. What I discovered wasn’t actually a devotional, but it was a fabulous find.
Intimate Moments with the Savior: Learning to Love
Life is a kitchenful of preparations that has a tendency to distract the Martha in all of us. It is the purpose of this book to help bring us out of the kitchen for a few minutes to sit, with Mary, at the Savior’s feet.
For there the words of Jesus wait so patiently to enter our hearts. There, in his presence, we learn to listen. There we learn to look into his eyes. And there we learn to love him. (p. XIII)
He’s right.
I also learned to empathize with the people who interacted with Jesus.
Gire writes about the hemorrhaging woman, “…with a thin thread of faith, this frail needle of a woman, stitches her way through the crowd.” His simple and picturesque sentence helped me see the anemic woman ducking through the crowd and then straining on tiptoe, peering ahead, to make sure she hasn’t lost sight of Jesus.
It’s easier to empathize with an ill and desperate woman than to feel compassion for a scowling swindler in first-century Jericho. But as I read Gire’s reflection on what might have been Zacchaeus’ backstory, my heart broke with the trampled boy inside the striving man clawing at bark and branches to catch a glimpse of Jesus. It stirred empathy for Zacchaeus, compassion for people who remind me of him, and love for Jesus who notices someone everyone else has tried to forget.
For tax gatherers are despised as ruthless bill collectors for a corrupt government. Even the Talmud looks down on them, allowing a Jew the sanction of lying to a murderer, to a thief, and…to a tax collector.
True, Zacchaeus has power. And he has wealth. But the stature he sought among the others has eluded him. And so has friendship.
But Zacchaeus has heard stories about this Jesus who was a friend of tax collectors. Who ate and drank with them and stayed in their homes. Who changed the life of Levi, the tax collector at Capernaum. For whom Levi left a lucrative career, left everything. And not for higher wages, but for no wages at all. This Jesus must be some man. There’s even talk of him being the Messiah. The thought captivates Zacchaeus: A Messiah who’s a friend of tax collectors. And with a schoolboy’s eagerness he shinnies up the sycamore to see him.
{Taken from Intimate Moments with the Savior: Learning to Love by Ken Gire Copyright © 1989 by Ken Gire. pp. 73-75. Use by permission of Zondervan. www.zondervan.com}
Gire’s book taught me that people in the gospels were not mere characters of ancient fiction. They were humans whose stories have been remembered through centuries because of the historical record of Scripture.
With seventeen short chapters, Intimate Moments with the Savior is perfect devotional reading for a few weeks this summer. If you’re headed for a road-trip or vacation, this book would be a gentle companion for morning and evening readings.
As promised, I’m giving away a SIGNED copy!
Email me at shauna@shaunaletellier.com and let me know which Bible character or story has had the greatest impact on your walk with Jesus. Your email and answer is your entry. I’ll contact the winner via email on Friday, August 10th!! Follow on Instagram and Facebook to find out who won!!
Psssst: Since there can only be one winner, you can also purchase a copy here
{As usual, all links to books on Amazon are affiliate links, which means Amazon pays me a few cents for telling you about such a great book, but you won’t be charged a penny extra!}
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