Читать книгу A Hero's Heart - Joseph David Hightower - Страница 9

High in the trees surrounding the path into the village a large demonic bird sat perched on an outer branch. It was screaming down vile curses and insults at Heru as he passed. This bird of condemnation and fear kept vomiting out insult after insult like a toxic rain over Heru’s mind. It was saying things like, “You can never go back to the village of your father, he will kill you to appease the ancestors. You will never again get to sit and talk with your mother. You are now forever banished! Don’t look back; it will do you no good. You must get as far away from the village as you can, after all, have you not done enough damage already? The village is now in ruin because of you!”

This complete and utter attack on Heru’s mind caused him to fall to his knees and curl up into a tight ball. He lay there just weeping and rocking back and forth as the reality of what he had done came full force at him. It was like a suffocating vice surrounding his chest. Heru summoned the last of his strength and slowly pushed himself to his feet. He stood and realized that much of what that voice had said was true. He could never go back to his village again. With his head hanging low Heru started to run again, but this time it was away from the village of his birth.

He ran to the one spot that he knew would bring him comfort and that only one other person knew about it. This was the place that his mother had brought him when he was just a boy. It was their secret spot for games and fishing and deep thought. Ironically it was also a spot with a rushing waterfall and sweet-smelling grass. He knelt on the side of the bank and quickly washed his face and took a couple of deep refreshing drinks of the ice-cold water. When he was finished, he sat back on the soft grass and let the peace and tranquility of the place wash over him. He lay back and looked up into the Safire blue sky and began to remember the teachings of his mother.

Back in the village Heru’s mother was out tending to her small garden of herbs and other unique plants. As the sun reached its zenith, she sat back on her heals and took a long sip from her water flask. When she tilted her head back she caught the sight of a baby bird getting ready to take its first tentative attempt at flying, as it stepped to the edge of the branch, it lost its balance and fell to the ground. The little bird had barely even hit the ground before it was viciously snatched up by a large evil looking black snake. Heru’s mother let out a loud gasp as chills raced along her nerve endings at the sight. She was consumed with an ominous feeling of dread that only a mother could feel when her child is faced with great peril. She looked around and again noticing the time she began to worry and wonder about Heru’s whereabouts. He had not been back to village since leaving to perform the nightly offering. She reached down and quickly packed up her garden supplies and headed into to the heart of the village.

So as not to alert her husband, the village leader, she started quietly asking questions about Heru’s location, just to see if anyone knew anything. After several hours of asking around and getting nowhere, not even his friends had heard from him, she was again filled with that all-consuming fear for her son. She did the only thing she knew to do when fear tried to take over, she found a quiet spot and knelt on her knees and began to pray for her son. She prayed knowing that as she did the Father would move on her behalf and protect Heru from whatever plan the enemy had for him. She stayed on her knees until that paralyzing fear lifted and she knew that her prayers were heard. Rising to her feet, she brushed the dirt from her knees and without further doubt, walked back home knowing that she would again see her son. She just didn’t know when that would be. She was about half way home when she heard the familiar voice of the Father telling her to go to her favorite spot, the waterfall. With quick steps and a lightened heart, she changed course and headed to the waterfall.

As she got closer she could see the outline of a person lying on the grass, and her heart leapt with joy at this first sight of her son. She called out to him in a soft voice so that she didn’t startle him. Rushing to his side she held out her arms and he leaned his head on her breast taking comfort the way that he had as a child. Reaching to grab his hands, she noticed the bandages for the first time. With a startled gasp, she lifted his face to hers and in the voice of a mother, both stern and tender, she asked him, “What troubles you so much that you cause your mother to worry and fret over you? Did you not think that I would come and find you or that I would not protect you? You are my son and you can share your burdens with me. I love you Heru, you are my precious son and I am proud of the young man that you are, there is nothing that you can do to cause my love to fade and wither. Take heart young one, this too shall pass.”

“No, you can’t be proud of me!” he shouted. “Don’t you see I have ruined everything, everything! I can never go back to my home; my father will probably kill me and you say that you are proud of me! I am nothing more than I big disgrace to both you and my father and to the village.” he finished in a loud moan.

His mother reached out and in a gentle voice she urged him to tell her what had happened, and after several minutes, Heru reached up and wiped his eyes. “Are you sure you want to hear this?” he asked.

“Yes, I am quite sure. Nothing you can tell me will affect my love for you, this I promise!” she said in a firm voice.

Heru took a deep breath and started to tell her about everything, the missed sacrifice, the evil armor, meeting a man named Yeshua, and finally about waking up and finding that it had not been all a bad dream, but something far more real than he was ready to deal with. He also told her about his fear of returning to the village.

Heru’s mother listened in silence and gave Heru comfort when he needed it. When he came to end of his explanation, she took his face into her small hands and smiled. “That is wonderful that you were able to meet this man named Yeshua! Don’t you remember the teachings that I gave to you in Hebrew? Yeshua is the name of Jesus in the Hebrew language. Heru, you were tended to by the very Son of God. That’s why the armor couldn’t destroy you and the voice from that bird could only come so close. Don’t you see He wants to make you His!” she exclaimed.

Heru shook his head, “No that couldn’t have been the same Jesus that you have always told me about. This was an old ordinary man. He lived in a simple house and carved things for his village. He looked nothing like what you would expect the Son of God to look like. He was just a nice old man who happened to be there when I fell.” he said.

“He appeared to you that way because He knew that is how you would best receive Him. He knows our hearts better than we do, and He knows that you are very confused with the two teachings that you have been taught your entire life. He will not reveal the fullness of His glory until you have fully accepted Him into your heart, and when you do that, He will always be there for you. You will never again walk alone. Do you want that Heru? Do you want to be one with God? Do you want the blessings and forgiveness that only He can give to you?”

Heru looked deep into his mother’s eyes and nodded his head, “Yes, I want all of that, but I don’t think that I can have that after what I have done. I need to make things right first, don’t I?”

“No, you don’t have to do anything, except to believe that Jesus is the Son of God, that He was born of a virgin, and that He was crucified on a cross and that He rose on the third day. If you truly believe that Heru and you confess it with your mouth and believe in your heart, then you are saved. It is that simple. Would you like to pray the prayer of salvation with me?”

Again, Heru nodded his head, “Yes, yes I would like to be saved. Please help me Mother.” he pleaded.

Taking his large strong hands into her tiny fragile ones, she held him with a strength that stunned him. Looking into his eyes she told him to repeat after her. She than led him through the sinner’s prayer and gifted him with one of the most beautiful smiles that he had ever seen on her face.

Smiling up into her son’s face she said, “You have made me very proud! I love you Heru.” she said. “Now night is starting to fall and you need to make yourself a makeshift hut for the night. Get some rest, I will be back in the morning and together we will go and see your father. Perhaps I can persuade him to be a bit more understanding. We shall see what tomorrow holds in the morning. Goodnight my son I love you and I pray God’s protection over you.” with that being said she placed a small kiss on Heru’s cheek and walked back to her home.

Heru sat with his hand pressed to his cheek long after she had walked from sight. Shaking his head and with a lighter feeling in his heart started preparing for the night to come as his mother had instructed him to do so. He was thankful that it was so warm out because he had nothing more than his over coat to cover up with and leaves to sleep upon. He knew that this was going to be a long night. As he settled in and laid his head back he could see up into the night sky and was amazed at the number of stars. He began to try and count them, lulling himself into a restless sleep.