God Loves The Letters "R E"
One late night, as a Tim was helping his wife close up their cafe, he wanders into the dining area and noticed an old man sitting alone at a table. The man was dressed in shabby clothing and Tim thought maybe he was homeless and wanting to stay longer.
As Tim approaches the man, to kindly ask him to leave so they can lock up and go home, he notices the man is playing Scrabble. "You playing Scrabble? By yourself?" he asked.
"Well, would you like to join me?" the older man responded. "How good are you?"
Tim always liked a challenge and wouldn't refuse one, so he sat at the table directly across from the older man as he shuffled the tiles around in large circular motions. When the tiles are distributed between the two men, Tim instantly finds a word to place on the board.
Placing the letters; R S F E H on the board, he lines them up to spell the word FRESH. " As he adds the points on each tile, he reminds the older man that he landed on a square on the board marked "double points". Boasting his total he relaxes and sits back to see what the man will do next.
As the man begins to place two tiles on the board he tells Tim, "Ahh, the letters of my name, R E. My mother always said RE was a good word." And the man places the letters before Tim's word to spell REFRESH. Adding the points, the man reminds Tim that one of his tiles landed on a square marked "triple points" .
"You mean RE as in short for Reggie or something." Tim asked, as he studies his letters then places two tiles on the board to spell DO.
"No. I mean RE. R E, RE That's my name. It's not short for anything. Just RE." The man again lays two tiles on the board, R E, before Tims word to spell the word REDO. Again reminding Tim he landed on a square marked "double points"
Tim doesn't like to lose and he's getting a bit flustered by now and asks. "How many R E's is in that pile? Surely, there can't be that many."
"Oh there's a whole lot of R E's. Did you know R E is God's two favorite letters?" The old man asked Tim. "The whole Bible is summed up in those two letters. REdo, REpeat, REnewal, REpentance, REstoration. Life is all about the do over, son. God does grace over. But first you have to die."
By now, Tim is beginning to think this old man is a little bit strange. He gives him a questionable look and says, "Well, uh yeah. I think I'll pass on that."
"First you have to die, so God can REdo you. If man doesn't pass then there's no RE. No REdo -- no REnew!" the old man explains with excitement in his voice. "That's the whole point, son. The REap come's from the dying. The Bible says, unless seed falls to the ground and dies, it can't be a fruit. You die --- you thrive."
Tim is determined to win the scrabble game and finds a word he believes will outsmart the old man. "Ah ha, here's one you can't add R E to." Tim brags as he lays down his tiles to spell SPEAK.
The old man adds E R to SPEAK to form the word SPEAKER and reminds Tim he landed on a square marked "triple points". Then the man says, "R E is only half of it. R E isn't worth much if it doesn't change anything. E R is how it changes you. Sow becomes sowER, reap becomes reapER, help becomes helpER, heal becomes healER."
The man looks into Tims eyes, "R E is not about what you do --- it's about what you become. God wants the RElationship with us, not the REligion. He REveals the REcord of His laws and I REcognize my need for Him and I REpent and then I REjoice because Jesus came to REconcile us to God."
As the man becomes more joyfully excited and he rises from his chair to stand, "And whoever REceives Him is REscued and REsurrected when we die. He will give us the R E and we shall become the E R's --- we will be brothERs and sistERs, hopER's and believER's, helpERs and fightERs. We will REceive our eternal REward and all that was lost shall be REstored in His eternal love."
Tim smiles at the old man as he gives him a high-five hand slap in congratulations for the speech. The man, is glowing as he sits back down on his seat. Tim smiles and says, "I think I like you RE. You're a lot smarter than you look." And both men begin loudly laughing with pure joy.
"I should hope so"
As Tim reflects on what he just heard he says, "R E and E R. I definitely never heard it that way before."
"That's what life is all about, son. How will you use your R E to become an E R." As the man stood up to leave, he places two scrabble tiles, R E in Tim's hand, "Remember, son, we all need a REdo"
Tim responds, "Next time you'll give me that REdo."
The old man tells Tim, "I think you have me confused with God, son. Next time I'm still up 1-0.
What if God came down to give you a REdo? Would you be ready? Will you accept?
When we're ready to die to "self"... then we can receive the R E. The longer we remain away from our "flesh"... we become the E R's.
Love and Blessings to all!
Shalom! ~One Love~