the unlikely benefactor

This past week has been all about celebrating.  Lunches, parties, concerts, gift-exchanges, candlelight services, Christmas movies, sing-alongs, well wishes.

A massage, manicure and pedicure for the self-indulgent (me).

It's been a good week.  Lots of sweet moments along the way, when my heart felt like it might overflow.

But oh, the favorite moment.  It went a little something like this:

In a smokey BBQ dive on the last day of work, my office siblings (that's really what co-worker friends are like, aren't they?  spending all sorts of time together, poking fun at each other, sometimes driving each other crazy?) and I ate lunch together with Wes, one of our greatest friends.

Wes will tell you he has a wrinkled past, but thanks to the saving grace of Christ, he's never been happier.  Wes is also one of the most hard-working, honest, and generous souls I've ever known.  He would, without a doubt, give you the shirt off his back and the shoes off his feet, if it would help you.  He loves helping people.

And, on a side note, he can preach the Gospel like nobody's business!  Not because he's paid to, or because he has a pulpit.  Instead, he's got a story, and a fiery passion.

At lunch that day, Wes shared a story of being shackled in a prison cell.  Although he was saved at the time, he was paying the penalty for a past offense, having been arrested on his job site.

Shortly after his incarceration, Wes's name was called, and his bail had been posted.  He didn't know who could -- and would -- pay his debt.

Upon his release, he met his boss face to face in the waiting room of the city jail.

"God told me to come down here and get you out.  Is there anything else I need to know about you?"

"No, sir.  This was it."

And his boss responded, "I want to help you, and you don't owe me anything."

(Tears are flowing at the BBQ pit, by the way.)

Wes tells that story, because he values the friendship he shares with his unlikely benefactor.

Could the spiritual metaphor be any clearer?  (Love it that God isn't so subtle sometimes!)

Our fallen race deserves the shackles.

We find ourselves in bondage over transgressions.

An unlikely Savior redeems us, sets us free, and says, "You don't owe me anything.  The debt is paid."

And we get to be His friend.

Here's to celebrating the birth of an unlikely servant King.  Be merry!