Thoughts from Wednesday Worship...September 4, 2008

(Photo by Melissa C Photography, Rossville, GA)

I love watching live interviews on television. It doesn't matter whether it's a post-game interview after a sporting event, a live interview at a political convention, or just a local television reporter covering a human interest story. Most of the time, it is not the interview itself that interests me. Rather, it is the people in the background. Namely, it's the guy in the background that suddenly finds himself in the camera shot. He's on TV! First he has that "deer in the headlights" look. Then he smiles and starts to gesture...sometimes wildly. The thing that tickles me most, however, is when he picks up his cell phone to phone a friend.

I can almost hear the conversation. "Hey...turn on your television to channel 11." "I'm on TV!" "Got it on? Can you see me?" Once he knows he is being seen, he'll then start to smile and gesture some more. The whole thing is really quite funny.

I can't help but wonder, however, who is he calling? Who is on the other end of the phone call? How does he decide?

Most likely, the person on the other end of the call is his "go to guy." Go to guys are important. They are the folks that we choose to involve in the goings on in our lives. No matter the circumstance...times of fear and panic, times of failure and disappointment, times of great joy and success (or even when we find ourselves on TV!), our go to guys share it all.

Jesus had His go to guys. Among them were the 12. I think of Jesus calling them to follow Him. I think of the times He took them away from the crowd to spend time with them alone. I wonder what they talked about. I mean, they were together for three years or so. We only have a relatively few documented conversations recorded in the gospels. I think of the night of Jesus' arrest when He asked His go to guys to go with Him to the olive grove to be with Him while he prayed.

Jesus appreciated them I think. He calmed their fears. (John 14 - "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God...trust also in me.") He served them. (He washed their feet on the night of their last supper. John 13 - "Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love.") He promised to always be their go to guy. (Matthew 28 - And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.")

So, the question is, "Who would you call to say..Hey...turn on your TV! Do you see me?" Who is your go to guy? Appreciate the gift of him/her. Don't take him/her for granted.

Perhaps a better question is, "Who in your life would think to call you?"