The power of Jesus to unite

I read a testimony written by John McCain in this week's issue of Time magazine. It concerns his time spent as a POW in Vietnam.

"In prison, my captors would tie my arms behind my back and then loop the rope around my neck and ankles so that my head was pulled down between my knees. I was often left like that throughout the night. One night a guard came into my cell. He put a finger to his lips signaling for me to be quiet and then loosened my ropes to relieve my pain. The next morning, when his shift ended, the guard returned and retightened the ropes, never saying a word to me.

A month or so later, on Christmas day, I was standing in the dirt courtyard when I saw the same guard approach me. He walked up and stood silently next to me, not looking or smiling at me. Then he used his sandaled foot to draw a cross in the dirt. We stood wordlessly looking at the cross..."

McCain's testimony itself was less impressive than the obvious changes in the heart of the Vietnamese soldier. Only Jesus has the power to shape and soften a person's heart like that. When your eyes are on Him, you begin to see the world in the same compassionate way in which Jesus saw it. We are all afflicted with this self-obsessed heart. Belief in Jesus takes away the guilt of having that type of heart and gives us the freedom to love other people wholeheartedly, without fear of losing out or not being taken care of. Jesus gave the Vietnamese soldier the courage and compassion to loosen McCain's ropes. I'm glad He did, because this story really encouraged me this morning.