7 pounds

Hello Again.

I know what you're thinking. I don't know what has gotten into me. I just have time...or really I am escaping from the time I do NOT have and all the papers to grade in order to blog. But this is way better!

Blake and I watched the movie Seven Pounds the other night. I had not ever read anything on this movie, so I had no idea what to expect.

We watched the whole thing, and it was not until the end that I realized what was going on and what was probably going to happen. I'm not really big into guessing the ending (however, I am really into talking to the movie: "Don't go in there?" or "Why are you so stupid?")

ALERT: This is about to spoil this movie if you have not seen it. Just wanted to be sure you were aware!

Will Smith plays a man that has lost his wife and killed multiple other people in a car accident caused by him. He goes throughout the whole movie pretending to be an employee of the U.S. Treasury Department, going from person to person to see if they deserve an extension.

Not until the end did I realize what he was actually doing: all of the people he visited had disabilities - one man was blind, one girl had heart troubles, one man needed bone marrow. He had actually gone around to these people to see if they deserved new "parts" to fix the ones that were broken. He wanted to give back, and in the end, he kills himself and the rest of the movie shows the blind man seeing, the girl with the heart problem living freely, the person who needs bone marrow free of pain.

And the waterworks began! Can you spell C-R-Y-B-A-B-Y?!

If Blake hadn't been next to me, I probably would have been crying for way longer than I was. It was ridiculous how many tears I let out.

But they were legit. I just witnessed (on a screen) a man who felt like he owed everyone something and gave everything to save them.

Sound familiar.

The blind man sees.

The (almost) dead living again.

Hello JESUS!

And when I made that connection, I realized how casual I have been when it comes to being reminded of what Jesus did for me. When a man sacrifices himself in a movie I go ballistic. When I hear about Jesus dying on the cross for me, and you, and everyone, I think "Oh, how sweet."

Lord, forgive me!

I want to be torn apart when I dwell on what Jesus did for me. He gave everything he had because He WANTED TO.

I cannot make any sense of this. But I want to be moved deeply every time I encounter this truth.

We are such imperfect beings, but God has given us a "part" that is irreplaceable and undeniable called grace. We need this to have life - the life God has prepared for us.


...for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Jesus Christ. Romans 3:23-24

Praise the Lord!

I pray that God's grace is keeping you alive and well, and that the next time you encounter the beautiful story of the sacrificial love of Jesus Christ, you will be moved deeply.

In Humility,
Amory