Disclaimer: The following is a fictional story and does not relate to me or to anyone else that I know, but was simply written to make a point.
I know your full name and where you were born. I know your family and how many brothers and sisters you have. I know what your father does. I know the color of your eyes and the length of your hair. I know about your favorite sweatshirt that you always wear. I know your friends and your class schedule like the back of my hand. I know when you set your alarm clock and when you go to bed. I know where you sit in each of your classes. I know where you sit in the cafeteria. I know you don’t like mushrooms, but love apples; you are very consciences about what you eat. I know your pets names. I have downloaded every facebook picture of you and have searched all of your friends to find untagged pictures. I know your dorm phone, your cell phone, and your home phone number. I know where you live now and where you used to live. I know your age, major, and where you go to church. I know everywhere you have worked over the last 5 years. I know how many pairs of shoes you have. I know your roommate quite well and know how you despise your suitemates for keeping you up at night. Your favorite color is blue and you love vanilla ice cream. I know you are having difficulty in your math class. I have pictures of you hanging up plastered all over my wall. My computer holds 20 gigs of pictures from online and that I have taken. Obsessed? I hardly think not. I love you and know we will soon one day be dating, married, and with kids. I know you so well that you may be scared of me. That is not my goal darling. I know your ring size and will soon be buying a ring for you. I have planned out our wedding and honeymoon already, and I am sure that you will enjoy it, because, after all, I know everything about you. I go to sleep and dream about our life together. I wake up and am reminded of your beautiful smile and exquisite eyes. Every waking moment of my life I am thinking about you and want to hold you in my arms and be with you forever. Maybe, just maybe, one day soon you will know my name.
*screech, brakes, crash* Okay, so maybe this is a bit exaggerated of the length that a stalker would go to towards someone he is infatuated with. But, even still, there are elements of this that are true as scary as that may sound. If you are a girl, I’m sure you have had some pretty bad stalker experiences before. If you are a guy, don’t do anything that I listed above or think that those things are a good idea. So whats my point? Yes, I could go into a long discourse about whats wrong with stalking and the whole talk about becoming a friend and going from there in a relationship, but I am not going to. I am not even going to talk about a guy and girls relationship.
So cutting to the point, and keeping this short, going back to our fictional story of lets say their names are John and Sally, another character comes on the scene. But first, John’s stalking could be describe as freakish, creepy, and impure, (to say the least) among other things. This new character is trying to get to know John in a very personal and close way. He knows John since he was born and knows all about his passions and desires in life. He has been seeking for John to get to know him for a very long time and has been constantly going after him, in a pure, father-son, (un-gay) way. He has called out to John so many times, but John was distracted by trying to get to know Sally. Although he is only a call or knock away, John never reaches out to this man. This man has much to offer John, and can explain many things to him about life, true happiness, and pure love. John knows how to get a hold of him, has his number, and knows his address, but feels like he can go through this life on his own without the help of this man. Sadly, for John, things do not work out between Sally and him. He was heartbroken and torn and did not know what to do with his life anymore. It was on one such occasion when he was lamenting his loss, that he heard a knock on the door. Who could it be he wondered to himself; was it Sally? When he opened the door, he saw no one. He looked up and down the street, but no one was in sight. He slowly returned back to his room and sat crying on his bed for endless hours. He quickly exhausted himself and feel into a deep, dreamy, sleep.
It was during his dream that he heard the voice of the new character. The voice said very simply, John, John, I love you, where have you been? I’ve been searching for you and calling out, but you have not answered. I want your focus, passion and desire to be turned to good! I want you to love me with everything in your heart and be obsessed over me as you were with Sally. I know you better than you know yourself; I even know the number of hairs on your head! I love you so much that I would, and have died for you, for you to come to know me better. All this sounds strange indeed, but I love you unconditionally, even in your disbelief of who I am and what I have done. I love you. I want to help you clear up the mess of your life. No, I will not do it for you, but will help you along the way. I will be your strength and help in times of need. I want to be your foundation of your life. But you must believe John! You must accept me and call out my name! Open the door and let me come in John! You can’t buy my love, but I give it freely to you. I want to restore your life and fill the void within your heart. I love you John… will you believe in my name… the name that is above all names… for I am holy and righteous… I am the Messiah, the beginning and the end, Jesus Christ.
A lot of us, like John, get sidetracked in life and obsessed over different things. Maybe it is a girl you know, or a sports team, or even cars, money, or popularity. We all have a choice to make, and that is if we choice to accept Jesus or deny his gift. His grace is freely given, and it is not about anything we can or can’t do in life. He loves us all the same, whether poor or rich, and wants to restore a relationship with you. Will you let Him in?
