When officer Ali Perez went to serve a suspected pedophile a warrant he had no idea that day was going to change his life forever. That it was going to be the day he met The Lord! When the suspect opened fire on Ali seriously wounding him as he lay bleeding on the floor, cornered by his shooter, he saw The Lord Jesus standing between them. When Ali in complete faith, and trust, asks Jesus what to do, Jesus gives Ali the same instruction as it says in the Bible. Bless Him! The man had nearly blown off Ali’s arm, and shot a hole in his body. Ali knew he might not survive, but realized he had to do what The Lord told him. This is what the Bible states about our enemies: Luke 6:28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.(NAB)
Sometimes the only way we learn hard lessons is when we are in the very pit of adversity with no way out. Lessons like forgiveness, mercy, extending grace, and loving our enemies can be the hardest to learn for most of us, unless we are put in a situation that demands us to. Sometimes our worst enemies can push us into learning these lessons.
Not only does The Lord want us to bless our enemies, he wants us to treat them good! When we do this God’s word says, “then your reward will be great.” Most would agree in Ali’s case the reward was instant. Jesus was right in the middle of that situation, blessing his enemy saved Ali’s life, and gave him a gift he wouldn’t trade for the world. Precious moments with The King of Kings, an experience of a lifetime, including how powerful prayer can be. It also left him with an awesome message to pass on, that we all need to repent, and do whatever it is we need to do, in order to get right with The Lord, then we can experience the true peace, and joy of resting in his presence for eternity. Looking at Ali one can see he has that peace, and wouldn’t hesitate to do it all again.
