I woke with these lyrics playing in my mind.
“Oh, isn’t this amazing?
It’s my favorite part because you’ll see
Here’s where she meets Prince Charming
But she won’t discover that it’s him ’til Chapter Three!”
The lyrics are from Beauty and the Beast. Artful words and gorgeous music!
Meeting Pam for the first time was not love at first sight. I knew her casually for a couple years at a large church we attended. I saw her as fun and energetic and a serious Christian, but there was no romantic chemistry. In fact, Pam got engage to a friend of mine, which I thought was just great. Bob and she seemed to be a fun couple. A month before the wedding they both had cold feet. I shared lunch with Bob and listened to his struggles.
After listening, I prodded Bob, “Look, Pam is a great gal. I think you should go ahead and marry her!” He looked back at me and responded, “Why don’t you?” I sputtered a bit at the question, but of course, I had no romantic interest at all.
A year or two later Pam and I started co-teaching a college class. I began seeing her in a new light. She was creative, spontaneous, industrious – more fun than I had realized, deeper in Christ, and determined to do the right, no matter the price.
One day she gave me a gift she had made, a sailing ship made of modeling clay and glued to a slice of tree trunk. It quoted Joshua 1:9; ”Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”
There was something sweet about that expression of friendship. Then I took a second look. Perhaps a third look. It was Chapter Three! I started to realize she was cute, in fact attractive. Come to think of it, she was vivacious and beautiful!
The revelation of Jesus as Prince Charming comes to many of us in Chapter Three! Some think Peter’s first encounter with Jesus was when Jesus commandeered Peter’s boat for a pulpit, and then had him go out deep for the miraculous catch. Then supposedly, Peter spontaneously left his whole career to follow Jesus.
The real story is more like this: Peter first met Jesus while John was baptizing. Remember, at that time Jesus changed Simon’s name to Rocky. Jesus’ mother probably had family in Capernaum. They had visited on several occasions. Jesus set up home base in Capernaum. He had been preaching in the region and had actually been living at Peter’s house for some time. They certainly had had many discussions. The great catch of fish was Chapter Three!
Few of us meet someone for the first time and decided spontaneously, “They are the one for me!” Learning of Jesus initially may be the same. We like Him, but it is too soon to talk about marriage in chapter one. Hang around. You will be amazed at the revelations in Chapter Three!
What’cha think? Have you had a Chapter Three revelation in a relationship? Tell us about it.
Steven C Johnson
LandingStripEnterprises.com
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