May 13, 2009

The great and the small

What it must be like to live that house! To get up every day and see that great scenery, smell the odor of the pine trees and gaze at the majestic mountain in the background. I think it would be a bit humbling, being in the presence of such greatness, such beauty, such inspiration. Imagine the grand thoughts that would come into your mind in such a place; something of its greatness would be bound to rub off on you and somehow you would become better; as a result the world would be a more wonderful place with this changed "you" in it. People would envy you; your life would be wonderful, just wonderful. Only if, only if, you were there. Well, the bad news is you probably won't live your life in such a place and the good news is you live right where you are and IF YOU LOOK, there is a lot around you that is wonderful, but sometimes it takes a bit of looking to find it. Think for a moment about your favorite characters in the Bible; who are they? Jesus, certainly, Moses would be on the list and also Paul and perhaps Elijah or John the Baptist. I doubt the following person would be in your list, in mine he is in the top five; believe it or not. From the book of Romans, meet Tertius.

Rom 16:22 I, Tertius, who write the letter, greet you in the Lord.

Who is he? A slave, and not a very high ranking one at that; number five in fact (Tertius). He was a nobody and a nothing, but to me he is one of the Bible's greatest characters. Why? Because he stood in the shadow of the great man named Paul and wrote the Book of Romans at his direction. Its hard to imagine that throughout the penning of this great work that he wouldn't have asked some questions. What questions would you ask? I am not sure what I would do, but chapter seven would probably be involved. Another reason comes to mind as well and that is one of example. Even the lowliest of us may have the opportunity to serve God in some way that may not even seem important at all and yet a hundred or a thousand years from now someone may be curious about your life because of the contribution you made. So, Tertius gives me comfort, knowing that even the "little thing" you do for God can be used by him in a great way. I saw the new Star Trek movie this week (twice, in fact) and Captain James Kirk had a middle name of Tiberius (one of the Roman Emperor's) which adds a bit of gradeur to his signification, BUT I long for the day when I meet someone named Tertius ,because he probably will be even greater. Anyone out there named Tertius? Please respond to this post; I would very much like to meet you!!!!!!!