A Watching World

And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, 'Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?'--which means, 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?' When some of those standing near heard this, they said, 'Listen, he's calling Elijah.' One man ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a stick, and offered it to Jesus to drink. 'Now leave him alone.
Let's see if Elijah comes to take him down,' he said. With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last. The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, heard his cry and saw how he died, he said, 'Surely this man was the Son of God!' Mark 15:34-39 NIV

I am awestruck and touched by the centurion who watched Jesus died and was converted. My own Grandfather accepted Christ on the day he passed. Before taking his last breath, he sat up in bed -- previously without his own strength since his body was overcome with cancer -- reached out his hand and said "Lord". Then he took his last breathe. Although I was already a Christian, I was absolutely humbled by his death. I knew he was found worthy by the Lord, our Savior, as He came for him. This centurion knew by watching Jesus' death that this was different from
what he had witnessed before. Will we be found different by a watching world? Are we living a life set apart? We are to live in the world without becoming part of the world. We are called to be set apart, even when it means we feel alone. To turn away from the norms of the world for the arms of our Savior so in the end of running our race, we too
will taste the victory, to be home at last so that even through our death, others will see God, the Father's glory. In those last moments when all of our sins were heaped upon Jesus and the Father turned away from the sin, Jesus knew that although He felt alone, He was not. If you're struggling, in the quietness of your soul, cry out to Him who
knows your struggles. Our race is like the child when they see you and start running towards you with their eyes open wide - He's running - where are you going? He'll be by your side these arms that are holding you.