It's all worth it...

I know, the title is a bit cliche... yet somehow, cliches are there because everyone knows what they mean... and at 1:12 am when it's too hot to sleep, I think I'm allowed one or two cliches :)...

I had another one of those moments in one of the translation teams' offices the other day. One of the translators was having some trouble with some computer files, so he called me over to their office to help. So I did what I could to help him find the missing file.

In the meantime, the other translator in the office was reviewing a section of the Gospel of John, which they had previously translated and is now being edited and checked. He happened to be reading in John 19, about when Pilate condemned Jesus to death.

He had tears in his eyes. He told me, "Even though I've read it so many times in English, when I read it in my language, it's so powerful. It really means something in my own language." It was the first time he had really read through the draft of the translation that they had done, and so it was the first time he was reading the whole story through in his own language. It was a powerful moment for him. This guy is a walking commercial for the impact of Bible translation, I tell ya!

And it was just an incredible privilege to be there to share that with him. It's the whole reason why I'm here. I'm so thankful that God gives me a little glimpse of that again, and that he gives me the opportunity to have these impromptu conversations once in a while, too, to just remind me of it again and again!

It also reminds me of what a privilege it is to have grown up knowing what Christ did for me on the cross... and to have been able to read it in English for as long as I can remember! I still have so much to learn about what it all means for my life, though. Sometimes I just get a bit overwhelmed by the whole thing - grace, sanctification, forgiveness, new life... man, I know I'll never understand it all here on Earth. It's also incredibly humbling to think about the fact that for some reason, God chose me, and somehow started teaching me some of these things from the time I was so young. And still, so many people have never had a chance to know any of it!

OK, it's getting late now, and my thoughts aren't coming out as eloquently as I hoped they might... so I'm signing off! I pray that God will teach me more this weekend as we celebrate Easter together.