The very real possibility of death threatened each rider, which caused a traveler who was not part of their group to step aside and watch. After several had plunged in and made it to the other side, the stranger asked President Jefferson if he would ferry him across the river. The president agreed without hesitation. The man climbed on, and shortly thereafter the two of them made it safely to the other side.
As the stranger slid off the saddle onto dry ground, one in the group asked him, “Tell me, why did you select the president to ask this favor of?” The man was shocked, admitting he had no idea it was the president who had helped him. “All I know,” he said, “is that on some of your faces was written the answer ‘No,’ and on some of them was written the answer ‘yes’. His was a ‘yes’ face.
As I read this, I could not help but ask myself whether I display a “yes” face or a “no face”. I can only hope that when people who are hurting or otherwise in need look to me, I reflect the Spirit of Jesus Christ. For surely the face of Jesus was a “yes” face!
After all, it was He Who said “yes” to those who needing His touch, His assistance, His compassion, and especially His forgiveness! And all around me (and you) are such people today. May those in need always find in us a face that says “yes” in the name of Jesus Christ!
SOURCE: Charles Swindoll The Grace Awakening (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2003), p. 4.
ALSO AVAILABLE WIDELY ONLINE. See, for instance: https://ronniemcbrayer.org/2013/11/07/a-yes-face/.