Almost every person alive believes he’s the exception to the rule. People swear they will not be like their mom or dad. They’ll be different. They’ll act differently. They’ll even look differently. Just shy of 50 years ago, a man showed me his wedding picture of a quarter century earlier. He had put on weight. Then he assured me the same thing would happen to me. I swore it’d never happen. I was an all-around sports guy playing handball, running track and covering miles on my bike.
He pointed out something I had never thought about. He said, “If you gain just one pound per year…in 40 years…”
So, it doesn’t matter how much we exercise, how well we eat, or what sports we play, our bodies will change in time. Now, I’m one for exercising and staying active, but certain things just can’t be controlled.
Our good friend Toño (pronounced Tonyo), is 83 years old and weighs about 140 lbs. He always looks the same. I told him he had gained about 1 lb. in the last 40 years, and he kind of put his head down and said, “That’s true.” Shoo, who wouldn’t like to have gained only 1 lb. in 40 years?!
We’re not the exception to any rule! The wisest man on earth, King Solomon, said, “As happens to the fool, so it happens even to me” (Ecclesiastes 2:15a, 16b). “And how dieth the wise man? as the fool.”
All in all, there’s only one man who was and continues to be the exception to every rule, Jesus. Not because He didn’t gain weight, not because He was hypocritical or a gossiper, or because His sports team always won, or lost, but because He was without sin. But how? He was God in the flesh.
Unlike many of us, Jesus didn’t wish to be different from His Father. In fact, He said, “I, and the Father are one” (John 10:30). Jesus did the works of His Father. He followed His Father’s plans. Notice: “For I have come down from heaven not do my will, but the will of him who sent me” (John 6:38).
Want to be the exception to the rule? Follow in Jesus’ footsteps: Walk as He walked. Keep His word. Talk as He talked. Do the Father’s will. Become like His Father. Become one with Him in purpose.
God Bless!
Sam