Imagine the Word alive!

“That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea.  Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach.” Matthew 13:1-2 (NRSV)

Do you ever just sit and imagine Scripture?  Visualize the words as if they are taking place right before you.  Imagine yourself as a first-hand witness to the events that are taking place?

I sat down to read Matthew 13 today and paused and imagined.  I invite you to imagine with me the first two verses of this chapter.

“Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea.”

Hear the ocean waves lap against the shore.  Smell and taste the salt of the sea as it infiltrates the sky, your clothes, your nostrils.  Do you hear the birds?  Then look, observe, Jesus just stepped out of the home where he spent the night. He takes a step out the door, pauses, and breathes deeply. Scanning the horizon, his eyes lift to the sky in a silent prayer, then he takes a humble step into the deep sand that he and his father created.

Jesus walks along the shoreline, a song of praise in his heart, a deep sense of appreciation for all of the life that surrounds him.  He slows his pace, looks down and picks up a shell, studies it for a while, and then sets it back in the rolling waters.  Peacefully he makes a seat for himself in the sand.

“Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach.”

A child notices Jesus and pulls on his mother’s sleeve, “Look, Mom, Jesus is over there.”  The mother looks and hurries back to her house to announce to her relatives gathered there the exciting news, “Jesus is on our beach!”  Siblings and cousins, children, nieces and nephews rush their way out the door to catch a glimpse of Jesus.  The neighbors notice and soon word spreads, “Jesus is here!” 

As the people flood out of their homes and onto the shore, Jesus quietly gets up and walks toward a small boat tethered to a wood post raising its arm to the heavens.  He loosens the cord connecting the boat to the raised arm, wades into the water, steps into the boat, and rows himself gently away from the shore.  The crowd watches and Jesus begins to speak.

Prayer:  God, this day as I read Your Word, help it to come alive in my heart, my mind, and in my imagination.  Amen..