I Wish I Had Been There

       "I wish I had been there."  We may have said those words when something important happened, or when something happened that seemed to be impossible, yet it happened.  There have been a couple of times in my life where I said those words the next day because I missed seeing something spectacular.    Acts 1:8-9 says, " But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.  And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight."   
     The disciples had already seen things that we might consider to be impossible.  they had seen Jesus walking on the water.  They had seen Jesus feeding crowds of more than 5,000 people with just a few loaves and a couple of fish.  They had seen Lazarus come bouncing out of a tomb when he was raised from the dead.  This scene in Acts 1, however has to be one of the most spectacular things ever.  Perhaps you can take a moment and picture yourself in the crowd on the Mount of Olives that day as Jesus utters His final instructions to the disciples...,then the impossible happens.  He slowly rises up into the sky and finally into the clouds and you stand there waiting for Him to fall back to earth, but nothing takes place.  Gravity has been beaten.  There was no rocket blast or ropes pulling Him upward.  He just defied gravity and left earth to return into heaven.  Someday, however, He will return just as He promised.  Yes, I wish I had been there to have seen that event.  We have the satisfaction however to be able to read about it.  We can read about the ascension into heaven and the miracles of calming a storm or feeding thousands, raising the dead, healing those who were lame, or blind, or deaf.  We can read about the promises that Jesus made that involves you and me.  We can read about the payment for our sin.  We can read about some of the details about heaven itself.  All we have to do is to open the Bible and read of the events that took place.  We know that it is true, because it happened to our Lord Jesus Christ.  Praise God today for the written account that He has given to us.  May we be faithful in reading it today and everyday.