"KISS THE SON..."

I recall seeing Heile Sallassie, Emperor of Ethiopia, pass through the airport in Addis Ababa one day while I was waiting for someone to arrive (circa 1973). Everyone, including our party, bowed. This is not in worship but in respect. It is the way men respond to the king of any nation.

I was amused to see a couple of Ethiopian potentates drop all the way down on their knees and kiss the floor as the Emperor passed. These men had some special reason for this extreme genuflection, which only they and the Emperor understood. Perhaps in the past they had rebelled, and Heile Sallassie showed them mercy. Perhaps they hoped to receive an appointment to some better position. Perhaps they were simply grateful because he had been particularly generous to them or toward a family member. The Emperor was well known for quiet acts of tender generosity to the needy.

This may sound harsh, but, in the context of the above story, I look forward to the day when Henry Kissinger, Javier Solana, Yassir Arafat, Bill Clinton, George Bush, Kofi Annan, Tony Blair, and all the other ego crazed world leaders bow before Jesus Christ and kiss the dust.

Or, perhaps, in a better context....

Psalms 2:12
Kiss the Son, lest he be angry,
and ye perish from the way,
when his wrath is kindled but a little.
Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.

Whether you love Jesus or hate Him, one day, you will
bow before him. Why not be ready?
Worship, adore, and submit to him as Savior now.
Then, one day you will bow before Him in joy and love.

Psalms 138:4
All the kings of the earth shall praise thee,
O LORD,
when they hear the words of thy mouth.

“If a man is offered a fact which goes against his instincts, he will scrutinize it closely, and unless the evidence is overwhelming, he will refuse to believe it.

"If, on the other hand, he is offered something which affords a reason for acting in accordance to his instincts, he will accept it even on the slightest evidence.” --

Bertrand Russell,
Roads to Freedom