Read Online Empire's End by Jerry Jenkins, James S. MacDonald - Free Book Online

SLEEP of the dead and woke before dawn to a most unusual mixture of pungent odors. Next to my head sat a small table draped with a striped cloth, on which lay a loaf of warm bread and a shallow bowl of olives, which appeared to have been tossed with grapes.
    I crept near the curtain to listen for whether anyone would join me, but I heard the old man’s snore and nothing of the boy or his mother.
    â€œThank you,” I said quietly.
    â€œYou are welcome, sir,” came Taryn’s whisper, in a tone implying that I should not wake the others. She extended a cup of wine around the curtain.
    â€œI don’t usually eat this early,” I said. “But I’m grateful.”
    â€œFather said you were going into the wilderness this morning,” she said dismissively. “You need something.”
    I found her voice captivating, but it was also apparent she wished I would not make too much of her gesture and that she didn’t care to commence a conversation.
    The combination of sour olives with sweet grapes and the warmth of the bread made me close my eyes and sigh, and I silently thanked God for every bite. I considered returning the bowl and cup to Taryn, but not wanting to cause her any discomfort, I merely slipped out of the tent in the darkness and headed east through the communal area.
    There the sand had been packed hard by daily life. I smelled the livestock and heard the horses nickering before I was confronted by the man on watch. He stepped into my path and I heard the faint scrape of blade against scabbard.
    â€œFriend?” he said, tension in his voice.
    â€œThe new man, Paul,” I said. “Greetings in the name of Christ.”
    â€œAnd to you, sir. If you’re looking to relieve yourself, you’ll find the easement area to the northwest about a quarter-mile.”
    â€œThank you. And might you have a lamp? I want to check on my horse.”
    â€œA moment.”
    He trotted away and returned to kneel and scrape a flint twice before a torch erupted with a hiss. “Yours is the big black stallion then?”
    â€œHe is. I call him Theo.”
    â€œWell, Theo’s been hungry, Paul. There’s all that’s left of his second bale.”
    I held the light where I could see that my horse barely seemed to notice me as he chewed.
    And God spoke to me.
Fuel for a long journey
.
    â€œOh, Lord, no.”
    â€œYou don’t want him eating that much?”
    â€œSorry, no, it’s fine,” I said, handing back the torch. “I’m off.”
    Beyond the easement area I reached the softer, windblown desert sands that quickly filled my sandals. With no idea how far I was to go or what I was to do when I got there, I turned west again, my eyes on the horizon, waiting for the sun to rise behind me and lighten the sky.
    Frustrated with myself for having responded aloud to the Lord’s message about Theo, I determined again to speak to Him only in my spirit. Silently I said,
I believe You, I trust You, I am here. I will obey. But the steed has been so faithful to me. Must he—?
    Do you seek to please Me or to please men?
    I stopped.
    Do not stop
.
    I continued, but what a question! In my past I thought I pleased God by being zealous for Him, but I
had
craved the praise of men. I lived for the approval of my superiors, the priest Nathanael, who served as the vice chief justice, and the high priest, Caiaphas. Yet even then I was not serving God as much as I was serving the Law.
    I no longer want to please men, Lord. I want to serve You and You alone
.
    You must become a bondservant of Christ
.
    A bondservant. Bound to serve without wages. A slave. All my life I had been superior to everyone else, at least everyone my age. I had been the best, the brightest, the fastest, the most accomplished, the most revered. Many considered me boastful. I couldn’t deny it. I hadn’t cared. I’d had much to be proud of. Surely the last thing anyone