“Light shines on the righteous and joy on the upright in heart. Rejoice in the Lord, you who are righteous, and praise His Holy name.” Psalm 97:11-12

Getting a haircut is a big deal. At least for me. Having bopped around to different people, I haven’t found a steady person I can rely on. I’m not that picky, but I know my wife will make a comment. SHE is the one I want to please. So when I told my son-in-law I was looking for a barber he said, “go to ________ and ask for _________. And use my name!” So I did!

I found the place, and I asked for _______. Of 5 chairs he was the only one available. “How lucky,” I thought. “This could be the start of something good!” We struck up a conversation and I said, “Yeah… I’m here because Todd is my son-in-law and he said I should ask for you by name!” His response was? “WHO?” “Todd,” I said. “Who again?” he asked. I began to wonder if I was in the wrong place as I said… “TODD!” He finally said, “OHHHHHHH, you mean CHAPPY!” I thought, “what have I gotten myself into?”

So there I was, draped in a barber chair, trusting a man I do not know (with sharp scissors no less) who is smiling because he apparently knows MY son in law HE calls ‘CHAPPY?’ Resisting the urge to flee I just said settled in and the hair started to fly. I thanked God that hair grows back, but was unsure my wife would give a thumbs up. I HAD to trust that “Chappy’s Barber” knew what he was doing. Because Insulting him meant insulting Chappy! AND because he had my back to the mirror and had only asked me only 1 single question, “How short?” Knowing ‘chappy,’ that question was funny in several ways!

I have often said that getting into Heaven is like getting a good government job. It isn’t what you DO, it’s who you KNOW! And I know Jesus! It is interesting that HE has a lot of nicknames as well. In the verse above, two of His names are mentioned… Lord and Holy! The really cool part is that the same verse gives ME a couple nicknames as well! Righteous and upright! If you know me, that is funny… in several ways!

People who say they don’t believe in God obviously don’t KNOW God. Claiming He is unjust, cruel and absent prove they have no relationship with Him. I KNOW Him… He NEVER gets out of my hair, is ALWAYS on my mind and has NEVER failed me! Even when I THOUGHT He had!

I liked Chappy’s barber. Lots of folks commented to the affirmative. Which is interesting because I didn’t have a say about how my hair got cut! He just cut it the way he saw it! Jesus does the same thing to my life all the time and over the years, He has earned my trust!