Borderline

N

ot far from my hometown there is an amusement park.  It is a great place to spend an entire day with family and friends.  You can ride different rides according to how brave you are, you can visit shows, play games, and attend concerts.  The name of the park is Carowinds and is located on the border between North and South Carolina. 

I remember my first visit to the park.  I wasn't so much enthralled with the rides and attractions as I was with the bright blue stripe which ran the length of the park.  This stripe was the legal border between the two states.  Right away, my friends and I began determining which state offered the best variety of rides and attractions.  We decided that North Carolina won the contest because the majority of the food and beverage stands were on the North Carolina side.  Of course, this had nothing to do with the fact that North Carolina was our home state.  The contest was devoid of all forms of favoritism!!!!!!

As I stated earlier, I became intrigued with the border and several times during the day, I would walk with the border placing one foot in front of the other, trying my best not to touch either the North or the South Carolina side.  As long as I remained on the border, I could enjoy the best of both states without actually standing in either of them.

There is something odd about a borderline.  As long as you are on the border you are legally no where.  At the park, I was neither in North Carolina or South Carolina as long as I remained on that border.  Neither state could legally claim I was on its territory and as long as I remained there I was in a constant state of limbo.

Jesus had an encounter with several men who were walking on a border.  The border they were walking was located between Samaria and Galilee.  The men he encountered were lepers and when they saw him approaching they called out to him.  Luke records this meeting in chapter 17:11-13 of his gospel, "As Jesus continued on toward Jerusalem, he reached the border between Galilee and Samaria.  As he entered a village there, ten lepers stood at a distance, crying out, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”

The border was a very appropriate place for Jesus to meet these men.  Suffering from leprosy, these men were not only on a border legally and physically; they were also on one socially and spiritually as well.  Under the law, a leper had to announce himself as being unclean in order not to infect those approaching him.  Lepers had no status, no rights, and no legal existence.  They could not live in close proximity to other people, they could not hold jobs, and they could not participate in or enjoy the every-day routine of life.  In addition, they could not hope to enter the temple and worship God because they were considered unclean, unfit to enter God's presence and worship him.

What a vivid picture this is of someone before they have an encounter with Jesus Christ.  We spend our lives walking on a border, having no direction, no purpose, no status, and no rights.  We merely drift through life, existing but not living.  Then we meet Jesus walking on the border.  Since we cannot go to him, he comes to us and meets us where we are.  Like the lepers, we cry out to him to have mercy on us and he responds.  There is no one else to turn to, no one else who cares about us like Jesus, no one else who loves us as Jesus does, and no one else who can save us from our wretched condition.  Like the lepers, we stand at a distance and cry to him in our misery, in our helplessness, and in our desperate need.  Jesus simply speaks the word and we are healed and renewed.  We now have purpose, status, rights, and direction.  We have a new life, we can leave the border, and we can venture forth into the world to share with others what Christ has done for us.

Today, you may be walking a border.  It may be physical, mental, emotional, financial, or spiritual.  You may feel forgotten and completely alone.  However, if you look just up ahead, you'll see someone approaching.  He stays on the border, heading directly toward you.  He does not change his direction, but instead adjusts his path to cross yours.  As you get closer, you recognize Jesus.  He is used to walking borders, because it is the best, and perhaps, the only place to find those whose hearts are really longing and searching after him.  Won't you walk toward him today?