People always ask what the deal is with the #43. It's on the covers of some of my books, I include it on my social media, I hashtag it, it's tattooed on my adult children, so many places are marked with the #43. What is so special about the #43? The number itself isn't as exceptional as the meaning behind it. So I'm going to try and provide a little clarity.
My late husband was a professional motocross racer. When he was an amateur his racing number was 143. When he obtained his pro card, he changed it to simply, 43. He and I used the numbers 143 and 43 for various reasons all throughout our twenty-four years of marriage. Needless to say, it was very familiar and near and dear to my heart.
After he passed away from ALS, Lou Gehrig's disease, I had a life-changing encounter with that infamous number. I was walking one of our dogs down our road one day just a few days after David's passing. When my labradoodle stopped to urinate on the side of the road, my eyes were drawn to an electrical pole right beside us. For some reason I noticed a sign with a series of numbers on the front of the pole. I assumed it was used to label which electrical pole it was. Would you believe that right in the middle of the row of numbers was the number 43? But wait, it gets better. At the end of that row was the number 7. When you add 4 + 3 together it makes the number 7, of course. The enlightenments just kept coming.
As I took in my surroundings, I noticed we were standing on top of a hill. The electrical pole was there - at the top - looking like a cross. All I could think about was Jesus' words of, "It is finished." The number 7 is used biblically to reference that completion. I knew God had been nudging me with that number for quite some time. But on that particular day, everything came together and I couldn't contain my excitement.
I grabbed ahold of my dog's leash and we both took off running as fast as my feet could go - all the way back home. I unleashed my doodle, grabbed my journal, and in a matter of five minutes I had the title of every chapter of a book - that wasn't even on my radar - written down. The original title to my very first autobiography was just going to be 43. That is, until God called me to write two more autobiographies to complete the series.
The #43 follows me around everywhere. There's not enough space on this blog to list all of my encounters with it. But each time God has shown me this number, the meaning behind it remains the same. Jesus completed - he finished - what only he could do, perfectly. Not only did his sacrifice save us from eternal death, but now we have been given a way to have a personal relationship with our Heavenly Father. We are one with him. We are complete in him.
Complete forgiveness.
Complete victory.
Complete salvation.
And this message is the heart of our ministry. And I can't wait to talk to you more about this life-changing news!
Love,
Keri
Comentarios