Coffee Shop~ by Rachel Allen

People have done something special for you, right? Maybe they've given you an amazing gift. Maybe they took you out for lunch. Or maybe they just helped you through a difficult time. But didn't you want to do something in return? Didn't you feel like saying "Thank you" just wasn't enough?

Now imagine: You're walking down a busy city street, and you're crossing the traffic-jammed avenue. Imagine that you're not paying attention. Imagine that somebody, someone you didn't know, maybe someone you've never seen before in your life, jumps in front of a speeding taxi cab to keep you from getting hit. And imagine that the person died. How would you feel? What could you do for them? For their friends? For their family?

Now imagine that it's a few months later, or just a few days, or maybe even a few years, you're walking down the street. You've moved on with your life, but you've never forgotten the stranger that saved your life. Imagine that you go to your favorite coffee shop, a little family place on the corner, just like you do every day. Imagine that you go to get your usual, and all of a sudden, you see the stranger that gave his life for yours. (I know what you're thinking: "But he's DEAD." "Last time I saw him, he was six feet under." "But... but... but... but..." But once you get PAST all of that...) What do you say? What could you possibly do for the man that paid the ultimate price for you? Now, I know what you wouldn't do. I KNOW that you are not going to walk out of the coffee shop and move on. You wouldn't just forget about him and go on with your life without a second thought. You wouldn't leave behind the perfect opportunity to properly thank the man that sacrificed himself for you. But you couldn't just walk up to him and say, "Hey, weren't you that guy that ducked in front of that cab? Yeah, sorry about that. That probably hurt, right? So, thanks. See you around, okay?" You couldn't just buy him coffee and leave it at that. The only words that might even come close to doing justice might be, "Thank you for saving my bloody LIFE and for SACRIFICING YOURSELF and for PAYING THE ULTIMATE PRICE for a complete stranger that you've never even seen before and suffering for them when you didn't even know their name and for allowing that stranger to keep their life by giving yours. Because, yes, that stranger was me." And that's STILLnot enough. You beg them, "Take me, use me. Whatever you need, whatever you want, ask of me. Your word is my command."

And somehow, no matter how impossible it may seem, it's still not enough. It will NEVERbe enough, because the stranger that lived was you, and the stranger that saved your life by giving theirs was Jesus Christ.

So, what are you doing? Are you serving him whole-heartedly? Or are you buying him coffee? Are you begging him to take you and use you for good? Or are you passing up the perfect opportunity to sacrifice yourself to the PerfectSacrifice, the Son of God, the Savior? Think about. And don't walk out of the coffee shop.

Did you know that Rachel absolutely LOVES messenger bags?!

Photograph Property of Lilies Among Thorns Magazine. Photograph taken by Tara Willinger.