Linda Buishas
Edwin was known as a small man with a big voice. He toured throughout the U.S. and was critically acclaimed in Europe as being the 19th century’s greatest American actor in Shakespearean tragedies. His younger brother was an actor as well. Yet, he gained notoriety not for his acting abilities, but as John Wilkes Booth, the assassin of President Abraham Lincoln.
Edwin’s accomplishments were so greatly overshadowed by John’s notoriety that shame drove him to abandon the stage. However, there’s little doubt that it was a surprising twist of fate that caused him to return.
As Edwin stood on a train platform one night, a well-dressed young man lost his footing and fell between the platform and a moving train. Without hesitation, Edwin grabbed the man’s coat collar and pulled him to safety. The grateful young man recognized the famous actor and thanked him, but Edwin didn’t even know the young man’s name.
Sometime later, Edwin received a letter of gratitude for having saved Robert Todd Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln’s son. No surprise, Edward carried that letter with him for the rest of his life. Was it the hand of God that placed Edwin on the same platform of the son of one whose life was taken by his brother? Edwin could have hesitated, but he made a split-second choice. Soon after, he returned to the stage and his own life purpose.
Edwin and John’s story is an age-old story: Abel and Cain, David and Saul, John and Judas: One chose good, and the other chose evil, determining each one’s blessing or fate.
What about the two thieves on Calvary? Max Lucado, in his book He Chose the Nails, asks, “Ever wonder why there were two crosses next to Christ? Why not six or ten? Ever wonder why Jesus was in the center? Could it be that the two crosses on the hill symbolized one of God’s greatest gifts; the gift of choice?” Both criminals were sentenced to the same end. Even while hanging there, both said cruel things to Jesus. However, one changed and rebuked the other, speaking of Jesus’ innocence. That thief made an eternal choice, and Jesus showed mercy and welcomed him into paradise (Luke 23:41-43).
In Deuteronomy 30:19, God says that He sets “before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore, choose life, that both you and your seed may live.” The clear choice is “life”! Yet far too many reject Him, blind to His sacrifice, grace, and mercy. Once the choice to follow Jesus is made, countless choices lie ahead. The correct answer is always the same: Choose that which brings life and blessings.
If we slip or miss the mark, as with the good thief, Jesus neither rebukes nor condemns. He shows mercy. Jesus took our punishment and gave us life. It’s up to us to choose it, then we and our children will be blessed.
For information on ongoing bible studies in her home, contact Linda at [email protected].