Crave

Last night we got our Netflix of Erwin McManus' DVD Crave. It was only 30 minutes long but had a great story. Greg caught it, I was oblivious. It started with a mom at the kitchen sink, washing her hands after preparing dinner and putting her plain silver wedding band back on. Set in the south at nighttime, a man in his late 20's or early 30's runs through the woods, and comes upon a house. The mom, home alone with her two small children, saw a news report of the escape, you could see the worry come over her. She frantically ran through the house looking for her daughter, who was on the porch playing. The mom stopped abruptly, found her daughter with a man who brought her into the house. At first you think it's the prisoner, but it's her husband.

They sit down for dinner, and hear a noise outside. The husband gets up and looks, comes in and says, "It was just the screen door." Relief sets in until they look up and see him standing in the doorway. You can cut the tension with a knife. He sits down and gobbles dinner with them. I thought, 'What a nice family to be hospitable to this prisoner.' The parents are obviously uncomfortable with this man's presence. They are suspicious of him.

After dinner, they go into the living room. The prisoner says things like, "You have a beautiful family. You must be very proud." You can feel a little envy and sarcasm in his voice. He picks up a picture on the mantle, looks at it, and puts it down. The husband keeps asking him why he escaped. He prisoner coaxes the son to his lap. The mom is uncomfortable, but the dad says it's okay. The boy sits on his lap and tells him to hold on to being 8 years old.

There's a knock on the door. You know it's the police. The husband answers the door. He is asked if he knows about the escape and if he's seen the prisoner. The police also say they are asking him because he is the prisoner's brother and verify that is correct. The husband says he knows about the escape, but hesitates in answering the other questions. All of a sudden the prisoner, with hat and coat on, comes from behind the husband and says, "Here I am", and surrenders to the police. He is handcuffed and put in the back of the police car.

The husband asks if he can talk to his brother, and is given permission. He asks again, "Why? Why did you risk escaping prison, you'll just get more time." He answered that one of them had to make the first move. They were family. He had to set things right. The husband, not understanding fully, goes back to his wife. She had found the picture of her hand with the plain silver wedding band lying face down on the mantle. She picked it up and underneath was a velvet pouch, with her diamond engagement ring in it. She starts to cry, putting the ring on her finger. She goes out to meet her husband on the porch as the police cars drive off.

The prisoner looks straight ahead, knowing the brother didn't know of the gift he had left. The gift he obviously stole and probably wound up in prison for. He paid the price, risking more time, to redeem what was lost. To set things right. They are family. It was worth the sacrifice.

The parallel with Christ. Erwin comes on before and after the story and talks about how we all crave for a better life in the future. There is something inside us yearning for the purpose God created us for. I know I'm not doing it justice, but it was very good. Rent it. Don't let the 2 stars fool you. It's because no one has commented on it yet. He also has Wide Awake on DVD. That's our next one. Can't wait to see it!

Blessings on this gorgeous Wednesday.