Favorite Place

If you follow me on Facebook you might have notice I changed my cover picture. It's a picture of the old city in Isreal. If I could move anywhere, it would be to Israel, near the old city. There is so much culture that can be learned by visiting there. The first time we visited we went on a tour to the sea of Galilee with people from the hotel we were staying in. We had our lunch there on the sea and I begin to talk to some of the folks with us. I ask: why did you come to Isarel? One man said, well this is the center of the world, history started here. Nobody said, because this is where Jesus was born, lived, and died for our sin, nobody. When the Bible talks about being blind to truth that was a perfect example for me. No one even mentioned that God created this place to be center of the world.

The next day we were in the old city walking around and a young man came up and ask us if he could give us a tour. We said great, and it was worth the money we paid him. Our last stop was the Garden tomb, outside the old city, down an alley, one little sign above the door. You can tell this place of history is not trying make money for it cost nothing to get into. There is a little room you walk into with a few artifacts, brochures, nothing that drew you to spend money for. From that room you step into a garden, a real garden, plants, flowers rocks, pathways made of stones. There is a platform on one side that you can look down on the city bus terminal, busy place but you cannot hear the noise. From there you wind your way down to the tomb and there are stone places and benches to sit all around it. People were coming in and out of the door as we sit down to watch for a time there might not be a crowd. 

The old city is loud, busy, crowded, tons of different smells, shops upon shops selling everything. They are catering to the tourist all over, except the Garden tomb. If you are not a child of God, joint heirs with Jesus, you probably will not end up at the garden tomb. We both were tired for we had walked all around the old city walls, inside the old city so sitting and just taking in the calmness was exactly what we needed. I remember thinking, God I could sit here forever. And just like that my next thought was this, you need to go out in the hustle and busyness of the world outside these walls for that is where the lost are. Soon we got ready to go back to the hotel but not before we saw something that cause us to rejoice.  The door to the tomb is usually open and people coming in and out but as we sit there someone closed the door and this was written on it:

                 "HE IS NOT HERE, HE IS RISEN."

Do you have a favorite place you have visited that spoke to your heart that stayed with you to this day?