Psalm 72 He will defend the afflicted among the people and save the children of the needy; he will crush the oppressor. (v.4 NIV)

At a Christian concert, I heard this true story about a photographer. While in Africa he was walking by a bush when he heard soft groaning and whimpering. Behind the bush he saw an emaciated three-year-old girl dragging herself forward. A huge vulture stalked her movements, its beady eyes boring into her. The photographer took an award winning picture. At the awards ceremony he was asked, “What happened to the child?” The photographer replied, “I don’t know. I just took the picture and left.”

The photographer’s words pierced my heart as if I’d been stabbed. The picture on the screen, of that stalked, starving child, will forever be seared into my memory.

What if Jesus had come to earth and simply taken a picture?

Praise you Jesus that you didn’t come to take a picture! You came to save your needy children. You willingly died on a cross so that we might live. You endured the pain of the “stalking vulture” so we didn’t have to. You crushed the oppressor. Thank you, Jesus!

2 Samuel 3:22-39; Acts 16:16-24;
Mark 6:47-56