Front Row Seat

This week, I attended the annual Gateway Church Women's Conference, Pink Impact. I always enjoy this so much...a few days away with some of my daughters and a couple of friends...wonderful, amazing worship...inspiring and igniting speakers...all things I get really pumped about. After hearing from a total of 8 speakers, plus some interesting conversation, and my personal Bible study, plus the things that have been tumbling around in my mind lately,  my brain is about to explode, it is so full. I can't even begin to process everything. I will share just one little tidbit, some of my thoughts that came from some things that Charlotte Gambill shared.

When you decide to attend a big event, you may purchase tickets on the internet, and you have the opportunity to choose your seat. The diagram looks something like this.

Let's see, which seat do you want???  You can sit anywhere. You want  the purple of course. And, you find out you CAN sit in the purple seats. You do not have to be a special VIP to sit there so that's what you decide on.  But, wait, the purple seats cost more, a LOT more. A lot more than you can or want to pay. You want to pay the cost for the teal green seats, but you want to sit in the purple seats, and you deserve to sit in the purple seats. Are you willing to pay the cost for the front row, center of the arena, best view in the house seats? Or, will you settle for the green seats with no view. Forget about seeing the expression on the faces of the performers. You can't even see the actual performers, just little figures moving around on the ground (I know this is true because I have been there).

The Christian life is much like that arena. We can be "front row" Christians, be a part of the things that God is doing, experience Him in fresh ways, hear Him speak...if we will pay the price.

One example of someone who paid the price was Mary Magdalene, in John 19-20. When Jesus was crucified, only one of the twelve remained, Mary stayed, in a front row seat at the cross. That would not have been easy. His devoted disciples fled in fear. The scene was brutal and heartwrenching, but Mary stayed.

She waited through the Sabbath, as the law commanded, but, early the next morning, while it was still dark, she went to the tomb. She did not know what to expect. She did not plan a big resurrection party, because that was not why she was going. She went to be near Jesus, to serve Him, even in His death. She didn't try to organize anything, gather everyone together. She just went. It didn't matter what everyone else was doing, she was determined to go to Jesus. She positioned herself to be a part of whatever God was doing.

When she got to the tomb, she found the stone rolled away ad the body gone, so she ran to get Peter and John, who checked out the situation, saw the tomb was empty, and went home!

In verse 11, Mary is still standing at the empty tomb, but she is confused and weeping, as she speaks to two angels, and then as she is addressed by Jesus Himself, who she assumed to be the gardener.

Then, the resurrected Jesus spoke her name, "Mary"! She had heard Him speak her name many times before, and she knew it was the Lord. Mary had a front row seat to the resurrection of Jesus. She saw Him before anyone else. She experienced what no one else had experienced.

Mary may have been afraid. The other disciples were afraid. She may have had to walk a distance to get to the tomb. She may not have been a "morning person" and not wanted to get up before dawn to walk to the tomb. Whatever obstacle she may have faced, she did it. She went to the tomb, positioned herself to be the first eyewitness to the greatest event in history.

Ii want to be a front row Christian, willing to pay the price, whatever that is; fear, embarrassment, inconvenience, money, resources, time, energy, rejection...I want to follow Jesus, go where He goes, stay close to Him to experience all that He has.