I was recently in San Francisco on business, but I’ll fast forward to my flight back home. I strapped myself into seat 38D (the aisle seat in the last row) and scrolled through the in-seat entertainment library. I didn’t really know what to watch, but a couple rows ahead of me, an individual had chosen to watch “RONALDO”, a documentary on the life of soccer super-star, Christiano Ronaldo. It looked really interesting, so I watched the beginning of the film from four rows back. Eventually I decided to watch it on my screen…that way I would have the audio as well.
For those of you that don’t know, Ronaldo is considered one of the best soccer players of all time. As a result, he’s EXTREMELY popular. He has over 111 million likes on Facebook, 56 million on Instagram and 42 million on Twitter. In fact, he has the most followers of any athlete on the planet. If the social media followers of Ronaldo made their own country, they would be the fifth most populated country after Indonesia. I understand there is some crossover (same people following on different platforms), but still, that is freaking wild. It’s very easy to see how Christiano Ronaldo has this “larger than life” image. He’s a person of immense public value. He is successful, talented, good looking, wealthy; in short, he’s got it all.
Back to the film.
Ronaldo and his teammates were practicing (I forget where), when a lady from the audience jumped the fence and ran onto the field, heading towards Ronaldo. Though she was stopped by guards, later Christiano and his teammates invited her over to meet him. When they met, she couldn’t stop crying, completely in shock. Afterwards, the lady was interviewed and some of the first words out of her mouth, among tears were, “He knows I exist. He knows my name.” Here she was having talked to a man of immense public worth, and because of this she considered herself valuable. She was finally valuable and worthy because Christiano Ronaldo knew her.
This just broke my heart. Though Ronaldo is a successful man, he’s still just a man. To that, they met for 5 minutes. It’s not likely that anyone can know someone in 5 minutes, but 5 minutes was all the lady needed to believe she was valuable.
If only the young woman knew of God’s heart for her.
Imagine if we took time to understand what it means to be known by the Lord. The Lord is of UTMOST worth and value. He is the almighty and powerful Creator of the universe, the Maker of everything. He is set apart, holy. A-list of A-list celebrities. Under normal circumstances, we would never have the opportunity to know Him. We would never be able to get near Him, let alone to have our “Ronaldo” moment. He is out of our league.
Yet, here lies the beautiful message of Jesus: that we were lost and dirty and HE came running after us. HE sought us out. HE wanted relationship with us. He wants to know us. Like intimately, deeply. It’s not just a one time meeting. Such would be like Christiano running after this woman, seeking her out, showing her she cares, and building a relationship with her based on sacrifice. That’s what Jesus did for each and everyone of us and He continues to do it day in and day out, without stopping.
What does this say about our value and worth?
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