Joshua's Words

Josh wrote and sent the following poem to Nathan and I thought I would share it with all of you because I thought it was rather sweet and inspiring.

A Way Past Sin

As I was traveling in a dream I came upon a chasm,
That was real deep and wide, beyond anything I could fathom.
And there upon the other side stood the creator of all life.
He beaconed me into His arms away from all my strife.
I knew that he longed for me to come into His embrace.
I realized then my purpose was to meet him face to face.
I searched up and down the gap looking for a way,
But no matter how hard I looked I could do nothing that day.
I felt an ache in my heart to see my Father over there,
I decided to look in the gap going down to who knows where.
I quickly backed myself away not wanting to fall in,
For I then realized who had dug that pit, it was I with help from sin.
It was then I knew that by myself I could never get over there,
And I did fall on hand and knee with my heart in deep despair.
I poured out heart and soul praying to my God,
As I prayed I heard some feet walk across the sod.
He reached me as I kneeled on the ground with his hand upon my head,
And he seemed to take at that moment from me my sorrow and my dread.
He reached on down for my hand saying, "Let's begin,
To build a bridge so we can cross the gap of sin."
He picked me up onto my feet and sid unto me promptly,
"My boy, we will get you home" and smiled at me dearly.
"All I ask is that you assist me in any way you can,
All I need is someone else to give a helping hand."
And then he set about his work collecting the greatest stones,
And as he lifted each it seemed it shook him to his bones.
I then went and found a stone I judged that I could lift
Sitting a couple yards away from the great big rift.
I reached on down to lift the stone and pulled with all my might,
But no matter how hard I pulled it wouldn't move, it was in there tight.
And as I pulled upon the rock the man came beside me,
A with a very calming voice he did say to me.
"I've got this one my dear boy, you go and get another."
The love that this man showed to me was that of a brother.
I backed away from the stone and watched him bending down
And I noticed ths his hands were bloody from working in the ground.
I watched as he struggled lifting that grand stone,
And carry it to the gap entirely on his own.
I watched him struggling with every step he took
And while he carried that stone I saw that his arms shook.
And as I saw him suffering a thought came unto me
I realized he was the Christ, the Savior unto me.
His actions they inspired me to continue and not give in
And find another rock nearby to help cross that gap of sin.
I tried to find another one that was smaller still,
But once again it wouldn't budge according to my will.
He once again came to me and with his hand upon my shoulder
Said unto me "I have this one", I watched him struggle with that boulder.
Time and time again this happened all through that day,
And I began to wonder to myself if there was some other way.
For when I watched him struggle my heart began to ache
And I began to cry and pray to the Lord for his sake.
He stopped his work and came to me a held me close at hand
And said to me "Why criest thou? For this is God's command.
Know ye not that I was sent to help you defeat sin,
So that you could cross the gap and return again to him?
God know that you aren't strong enough to do this on your own
So I was sent to offer help so you could return to his throne.
He wants you to make an effort to repent of all your sin.
He wants you to loosen the dirt that the rock lies within.
Then once you have done all that you can
I can then come lift you up to be a better man."
He then pointed to the gap where the bridge now stood
"This is the result", he said "of doing all you could.
As you can see it's almost done and the end is nigh,
And soon you will be reunitd with your God on high.
But there is still some work left for us to do
I would apprecieat it if you would retrieve a last stone or two."
I told him I would do my best and away I did depart
And searched up an down the way looking for the final part.
But no matter how hard I looked I could not find a stone
That I could carry back to him on my very own.
And then at last I found those two sitting in the sand.
Neither one of those two stones was much bigger than my hand.
I picked them up and brought them back to him,
Back where he was at the bridge built over sin.
I brought them back to him and placed them in his hand
"Thanks" he said "you were faithful to my command."
I then asked him why he needed stones that were so small
"These two small stones" he did reply can stop a deadly fall.
They are faith and obedience, two things needed to cross sin
these are keystones this bridge needed in order to make things fit in.
Once in place you can cross to have joy with the Lord,
And all because you had faith in me and were obedient to my word."
He then went about his work putting each stone into place.
"It's time for you to on home" he said, with smile on his face.
And then he led me to the bridge and we crossed over sin,
And once we crossed we were standing in front of Him.
As I stood before my father he said unto me.
"Well done my faithful servant I'm very proud of thee."
Then he held me in his arms and said "Welcome back, my son.
You fought the battle well dear boy, congratulations you have won."
It was at that moment that I knew were I was meant to be.
I want to be up there with him. Father I will return to thee.